UPDATED 18:22 EST / FEBRUARY 07 2017

CLOUD

Twilio beats earnings forecast, but weak outlook worries investors

Cloud communications company Twilio Inc. beat expectations with some impressive fourth-quarter earnings, but investors are wary of the company’s weak first-quarter outlook.

Twilio today reported it brought in a total revenue of $82 million in the quarter, up by 60 percent year-over-year and an increase of 15 percent over the previous quarter. For the full year, Twilio posted earnings of $277 million, an increase of 66 percent over 2015, with an adjusted loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 16 cents a share.

Twilio also noted in its report that the company has added over 10,000 new customers in the last year, with more than 36,000 active customer accounts by the end of 2016.

“Our fourth quarter and full year results demonstrate the power of our platform business model that starts with developers and extends to some of the largest enterprises in the world,” Chief Executive Jeff Lawson (pictured) said in a statement. “As we look into 2017, we will continue to invest in innovation and growth with the goal of powering the software-based future of communications.”

In addition to strong revenue, Twilio also posted an adjusted gross margin of 57 percent, but Chief Financial Officer Lee Kirkpatrick was quick to point out it could fall because of the company’s focus on growth. “Please recall we’re currently operating our business to optimize for reach and scale to drive revenue growth rather than maximizing for gross margin,” Kirkpatrick said during today’s earnings call with investors.

Indeed, the company has a more modest outlook on the beginning of 2017, largely because it plans to invest in growth early in the year.

“We’re committed to growing revenue and acquiring customers, and that’s our focus. So we will be investing in both the platform and the sales team,” Kirkpatrick said during the earnings call. “We have a leadership position, and we want to continue to take advantage of that, so we’ll be investing in the first part of the year, but we’re still sticking by our commitment to break even in the fourth quarter of 2017.”

Twilio’s shares have seen a sharp drop since their peak in September, falling more than 50 percent by the end of the year despite beating third-quarter expectations. Since posting its results today, Twilio’s shares have fluctuated significantly in after-hours trading, spiking by over 2 percent before steadily cooling off. By 3:30 p.m. Pacific, shares were down a third of a point. They fell 2.7 percent in regular trading Tuesday.

Image courtesy of Twilio

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