Twitter Beats On Revenue And EPS, Cuts 9% Of Workforce As Part Of Business Restructuring

In today’s firehose of Q3 earnings, where at least 62 S&P500 companies are set to report making it the busiest day of the earnings season, one company stood out not only because it normally reports after the close, but because it has been steadily in the news over the past few months: Twitter. The social network surprised investors by reporting a beat not only on revenue but also on EPS, while monthly active users rose by 4 million, to 317, of which the increase in US MAUs was 1 million rising to 67 million, but also by annoucing a major RIF and the start of a restructuring process.

The results in a nutshell:

Q3 EPS $0.13; Exp. $0.09
Q3 Rev $616MM, Exp. $605.8MM, an increase of 8% Y/Y
Q3 MAU 317M vs 313M In Q2; mobile MAUs represented 83% of total
Q3 GAAP net loss of $103 million and non-GAAP net income of $92 million
Q3 adjusted EBITDA of $181 million, up 28% year-over-year, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 29%.
9% workforce reduction

In light of the dead sales process, shareholders will be particularly interest by Twitter’s just announced restructuring and Reduction in Force plan which was as follows:

Restructuring and Reduction in Force

This morning we announced a restructuring and reduction in force affecting approximately 9% of Twitter’s positions globally. The restructuring, which focuses primarily on reorganizing our sales, partnerships and marketing efforts, is intended to create greater efficiency as we move toward our goal of driving toward GAAP profitability in 2017.

The restructuring allows us to continue to fully fund our highest priorities, while eliminating investment in non-core areas and driving greater efficiency. Over time, we will look to invest in additional areas, as justified by expected returns and business results. We remain committed to our previously stated long-term goal of 40-45% adjusted EBITDA margins net of traffic acquisition costs (TAC).

We estimate that we will incur approximately $10 million to $20 million of cash expenditures as a result of the workforce restructuring, substantially all of which are severance costs, and $5 million to $10 million of non-cash expenditures, consisting primarily of stock-based compensation expense. We expect to recognize most of the pre-tax workforce restructuring charges in Q4.

As a result of the volatile earnings expected, Twitter refused to provide guidance for Q4 and for the full year.

Some of the key charts below: