Twitter blamed disappointing results Friday on "headwinds",
including the uncertainty that Elon Musk's chaotic buyout bid has imposed on
the company.
اضافة اعلان
The firm is locked in a legal battle with the mercurial Tesla boss over his
effort to walk away from a $44 billion deal to purchase the platform, leaving
the company in limbo.
Twitter missed expectations with revenue of $1.18 billion, due to
"advertising industry headwinds... as well as uncertainty related to the
pending acquisition of Twitter by an affiliate of Elon Musk," the company
reported.
Also, in the current context of tightening credit conditions and economic
turbulence, many companies like Twitter that rely heavily on ads are suffering
from a decrease in advertisers' budgets.
"Twitter is on a rowboat in the middle of a storm," said analyst
Jasmine Enberg. "The Musk saga rocked the boat even harder."
"Twitter is now in the unenviable position of convincing advertisers
that its ad business is solid," she added.
Twitter also reported that the number of "monetizable" daily
active users -- those who can be shown advertising -- increased by 8.8 million,
less than expected by analysts, to 237.8 million.
"Overall we would characterize the daily average user metrics as better
than feared and holding up relatively firm in this environment," said
analyst Dan Ives.
The results cover the period ending in June so don't include Musk's move in
July to try to "terminate" the deal on the argument that Twitter was
not forthcoming about the number of fake accounts.
The social media network, which is a key exchange of ideas, news and
entertainment, has countered by saying the Tesla chief already agreed the deal
and can't back out now.
"Twitter believes that Mr. Musk's purported termination is invalid and
wrongful, and the merger agreement remains in effect," it said in the
earnings report.
- Twitter left in
limbo -
Twitter notched a victory earlier this week in its fight with Musk, when a
judge agreed to a fast-track trial on whether to force the billionaire to
complete the buyout.
Musk's lawyers had pushed for a February 2023 date, but the court in the
eastern US state of Delaware hewed closely to the uncertainty-wracked
platform's desire for speed and set an October start.
Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which
Musk has said should allow any legal speech -- an absolutist position that has
sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.
While the deal remains in limbo, Twitter is left with anxious employees,
wary advertisers and hamstrung management.
In early May, at an annual marketing event where companies negotiate large
advertising deals, Twitter was "not able to give advertisers any clarity
or confidence" that it would continue to be safe showcase for them, Angelo
Carusone, president of watchdog group Media Matters, told AFP previously.
"They didn't go anywhere close to what they normally sell at that
event. And it's obviously been sluggish since then," he said.
The San Francisco-based social network cannot afford to lose
customers.
Unlike big fish such as Google and Facebook parent Meta, which dominate
online advertising and make billions in profits, Twitter lost hundreds of
millions of dollars in 2020 and 2021.
The group will capture less than one percent of global ad revenue in 2022,
according to eMarketer, compared to 12.5 percent for Facebook, 9 percent for
Instagram and nearly two percent for booming upstart TikTok.
On top of that, Twitter's user base is barely expected to grow and may even
shrink in the United States, analysts have noted.
Read More
Business
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
