Twitter (TWTR) stock drops 10% on lower than expected user growth in Q1 2021

Twitter just reported their earnings results for Q1 2021. The company has struggled to show consistent growth, but they were able to turn a profit this quarter. Twitter actually beat analyst expectations with 16 cents reported in earnings per share and revenues of $1.04 billion. Both of these were ahead of loftier whisper numbers as well. It appears that not everything was peachy over at the social media company, as they reported lower than expected growth in Daily Active Users (DAUs) during Q1 2021. The stock is currently 10% lower in afterhours trading.

Here is some more interesting information from the Twitter Q1 2021 earnings release:

Average monetizeable Daily Active Users (mDAU) reached 199 million, up 20% from the prior year
Q1 revenue totaled $1.04 billion, up 28% year over year
Q1 net income was $68 million, representing a net margin of 7%
Net cash from operating activities - $390 million
mDAUs of 199 million were up 7 million from Q4 2020
- US mDAU were 38 million in Q1 2021
- International mDAU were 162 million in Q1 2021
Q2 2021 outlook
- Total revenue is expected to be between $980 million and $1.08 billion
- GAAP operating loss is expected to be between $170 million and $120 million

“People turn to Twitter to see and talk about what’s happening, and we are helping them find their interests more quickly while making it easier to follow and participate in conversations,” said Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO. “Average monetizable DAU (mDAU) reached 199 million, up 20% year over year and up 7 million sequentially, driven by ongoing product improvements and global conversation around current events.”

“Q1 was a solid start to 2021, with total revenue of $1.04 billion up 28% year-over-year, reflecting accelerating year-over-year growth in MAP revenue and brand advertising that improved throughout the quarter,” said Ned Segal, Twitter’s CFO. “Advertisers continue to benefit from updated ad formats, improved measurement, and new brand safety controls, contributing to 32% year-over-year growth in ad revenue in Q1.”

Twitter (TWTR) shares dropped 10% afterhours on the disappointing Q2 guidance and mDAU data.

Twitter (TWTR) shares dropped 10% in afterhours trading on the news that user growth wasn't as impressive as Wall Street had expected. The Q2 2021 guidance of an operating loss is also a data point that is scaring some traders out of the stock. Many companies are seeing momentum building going into the economic reopening, so Twitter's guidance may be indicative of bigger problems ahead for the company. Facebook just reported a massive 2.85 billion monthly active users number yesterday, so Twitter is looking pretty weak in comparison today.

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