Twitter would have made more money in the last few months if Elon Musk wasn’t in the picture. At least that’s what the company said in its second-quarter earnings call this morning, citing Musk as a factor in the revenue results, which fell year over year to $1.18 billion from $1.19 billion.
That’s not the only reason Twitter is struggling with revenue. The company also cited problems in the ad industry — see Snap’s poor performance yesterday — and the general economic environment. But “uncertainty surrounding the impending acquisition of Twitter by an affiliate of Elon Musk” is the most Twitter-specific issue on the list.
Ad sales reportedly in ‘disarray’
Musk struck a deal to buy Twitter in April and has been trying to walk away from it just weeks after. Finally, Musk filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission in an attempt to formally end the deal earlier this month, and the two sides are now headed to court in October. Twitter is hoping to get Musk to complete the acquisition, which would be higher than the company’s current stock price.
For now, though, the chaotic acquisition appears to be making it harder for Twitter to sell ads. Bloomberg previously reported that Twitter was doing its best to calm advertisers’ concerns about how Musk might change the platform, while Ad Age reported earlier that the drama has sent the company’s ad sales into “disarray.”
All told, Twitter ad sales were still up 2 percent year-over-year, even if overall revenue was down. But the company needs to grow ad revenue much faster. Twitter reported a net loss of $270 million, down from a profit of $66 million in the same quarter last year. The revenue figure is much worse when looking at the growth trajectory. Last year at this time, Twitter’s revenue was up 74 percent year over year. It’s shrinking now.
One thing Twitter won’t admit to Musk? Its user growth. The service reported reaching more than 237 million daily users, up from 229 million last quarter. This is of course due to “ongoing product improvements”.
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