Twitter ad sales down 59%, company valuation down 66%

[hatshepsut93]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/technology/twitter-ad-sales-musk.html

But Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times. The company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections, sometimes by as much as 30 percent, the document said.

Twitter’s ad sales staff is concerned that advertisers may be spooked by a rise in hate speech and pornography on the social network, as well as more ads featuring online gambling and marijuana products, the people said. The company has forecast that its U.S. ad revenue this month will be down at least 56 percent each week compared with a year ago, according to one internal document.

Twitter’s valuation has since plunged. In March, Mr. Musk said the company was worth $20 billion, down more than 50 percent from the $44 billion he paid for it. Last week, the mutual funds giant Fidelity, which owns shares in Twitter, valued the company at $15 billion.

At this rate Twitter will either file for bankruptcy or will be sold for 5-10 billion to new owners. Or maybe Musk will double down and will start using his Tesla/SpaceX money to support Twitter, although if that happens, the shareholders of those companies will be very unhappy. Another way how Twitter can survive a bit longer is if it will secure funding from foreign governments. One of the buyers of Twitter together with Musk was a Saudi prince. Maybe Musk will start offering censorship/propaganda/data harvesting service to governments for a large fee to offset his ad revenue losses. Because blue checkmark sales are clearly not enough.

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[_BlackStar]

I'm not surprised by this news because basically some people also predict that Twitter will experience something like this because of the consequences of a shift in policy from the new owner. If Elon Musk really wants to go ahead and keep supporting Twitter - then he's probably going to be spending a lot of money in the next few years.

[yhiaali3]

In a televised interview with Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk revealed that all unencrypted Twitter data was regularly subject to government surveillance under the previous ownership.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/elon-musk-government-surveillance-of-twitter-data-was-routine-both-foreign-and-domestic-intelligence-agencies-had-access-to-private-dms/

This means that user data was available to many governments before Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, but since Elon Musk is a big businessman and knows exactly how to bring in money, so I think he started asking governments to pay money in exchange for data.

Sure there are a lot of governments that pay a lot of money to get the data of important people, Elon Musk never gets out of the deal loser.

[Unbunplease]

In my opinion, there is a certain amount of Musk's own guilt here. He rushes from one extreme to another without a clear business strategy. One day he wants to be CEO, the next day he doesn't. Perhaps that is his plan: to destroy Twitter. Doesn't Musk have the money to hire proper advisors?

[benalexis12]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/technology/twitter-ad-sales-musk.html

But Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times. The company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections, sometimes by as much as 30 percent, the document said.

Twitter’s ad sales staff is concerned that advertisers may be spooked by a rise in hate speech and pornography on the social network, as well as more ads featuring online gambling and marijuana products, the people said. The company has forecast that its U.S. ad revenue this month will be down at least 56 percent each week compared with a year ago, according to one internal document.

Twitter’s valuation has since plunged. In March, Mr. Musk said the company was worth $20 billion, down more than 50 percent from the $44 billion he paid for it. Last week, the mutual funds giant Fidelity, which owns shares in Twitter, valued the company at $15 billion.

At this rate Twitter will either file for bankruptcy or will be sold for 5-10 billion to new owners. Or maybe Musk will double down and will start using his Tesla/SpaceX money to support Twitter, although if that happens, the shareholders of those companies will be very unhappy. Another way how Twitter can survive a bit longer is if it will secure funding from foreign governments. One of the buyers of Twitter together with Musk was a Saudi prince. Maybe Musk will start offering censorship/propaganda/data harvesting service to governments for a large fee to offset his ad revenue losses. Because blue checkmark sales are clearly not enough.

Could it be that what affected this is that Elon Musk implemented monthly subscriptions for their twitter users? I'm just not updated on whether Musk's plan has been successful Or it could also be because he removed all the former employees of twitter so they face such a problem now that Twitter apps in this industry. It appears that Twitter has gone back to zero since Elon Musk became its owner. But I'm still not sure.

[Call_Me_Guru]

I am included as one of the people that knew this would happen. Elon Musk can not handle Twitter, he has bought what is mightier than himself. Some people want to do everything when it is natural that everything is not meant for everyone. Money has been lost, I don't know how he can get to bring it back.

Jack Dorsey and his team did a good job but Musk most times will condemn their effort that they do not know what they are doing thinking everything is about money and monetization.

The new CEO Linda Yaccarino has just been announced, her impact can change things to an extent in years.

[Synchronice]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/technology/twitter-ad-sales-musk.html

But Twitter’s U.S. advertising revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was $88 million, down 59 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times. The company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections, sometimes by as much as 30 percent, the document said.

Twitter’s ad sales staff is concerned that advertisers may be spooked by a rise in hate speech and pornography on the social network, as well as more ads featuring online gambling and marijuana products, the people said. The company has forecast that its U.S. ad revenue this month will be down at least 56 percent each week compared with a year ago, according to one internal document.

Twitter’s valuation has since plunged. In March, Mr. Musk said the company was worth $20 billion, down more than 50 percent from the $44 billion he paid for it. Last week, the mutual funds giant Fidelity, which owns shares in Twitter, valued the company at $15 billion.

At this rate Twitter will either file for bankruptcy or will be sold for 5-10 billion to new owners. Or maybe Musk will double down and will start using his Tesla/SpaceX money to support Twitter, although if that happens, the shareholders of those companies will be very unhappy. Another way how Twitter can survive a bit longer is if it will secure funding from foreign governments. One of the buyers of Twitter together with Musk was a Saudi prince. Maybe Musk will start offering censorship/propaganda/data harvesting service to governments for a large fee to offset his ad revenue losses. Because blue checkmark sales are clearly not enough.

Did anyone on this forum, who use twitter, notice any unusual or significant increase in hate speech? Personally, I haven't noticed. Has anyone here watched BBC's interview with Elon Musk? The interviewer so absurdly talking about hate speech increase while in fact he had no evidence to prove his claim. I think freedom of speech is very important and Elon Musk clearly pointed that out in that interview, who is fair to judge what's true and what's false?
By the way, Elon Musk's approach towards Twitter, as a company, is very strange. To my mind, his mistake is that he ignores the fact that people aren't as dedicated and hard-working as he is and by firing so many employees, his company is not doing well and he doesn't want to return them back too.

[South Park]

I am included as one of the people that knew this would happen. Elon Musk can not handle Twitter, he has bought what is mightier than himself. Some people want to do everything when it is natural that everything is not meant for everyone. Money has been lost, I don't know how he can get to bring it back.

Jack Dorsey and his team did a good job but Musk most times will condemn their effort that they do not know what they are doing thinking everything is about money and monetization.

The new CEO Linda Yaccarino has just been announced, her impact can change things to an extent in years.

This is what happens when a person takes over a company and has no idea about the business of such company, I think no one can deny that Musk is a good businessman, but this is only true when it comes to his field of expertise, on any other field he is just as bad as us, this reminds me of Steve Jobs which also had that tendency, however it is difficult for them to see this as both of them were considered the golden boys of silicon valley.

[dothebeats]

Twitter's business model was fucked since Elon bought it. It became his personal playpen - a testbed for some of his ridiculous ideas, if you may. He's trying to use the platform to gauge the public's pulse and perception to his viewpoints. It's an expensive platform for his ideas, but it certainly is important when he's looking for the public's reaction and opinion on some of the things that he's saying on important matters or any business-related tweets that he's looking to get out there.

[hatshepsut93]

This is what happens when a person takes over a company and has no idea about the business of such company, I think no one can deny that Musk is a good businessman, but this is only true when it comes to his field of expertise, on any other field he is just as bad as us, this reminds me of Steve Jobs which also had that tendency, however it is difficult for them to see this as both of them were considered the golden boys of silicon valley.

I think the mistakes he did with Twitter go far beyond not being an expert in the field of social media. Buying a company and immediately firing essential employees, demanding people to work long hours and in general trying to "fix" what wasn't broken is just a sign of general incompetence. Any normal CEO would do anything to please the advertisers, because they are the main source of revenue, instead Elon chose to ignore their concerns and switch to a different revenue model - premium subscription, without any strong research to back it, just his genius entrepreneur instincts.

[Wend]

In my opinion, there is a certain amount of Musk's own guilt here. He rushes from one extreme to another without a clear business strategy. One day he wants to be CEO, the next day he doesn't. Perhaps that is his plan: to destroy Twitter. Doesn't Musk have the money to hire proper advisors?

For a businessman who owns many companies and is the richest billionaire in the world. Do you think he would make such simple mistakes? Do not rush to say that he is wrong in business when we are not equal to him and do not have any business experience. I am also not good and have the right to judge anyone, but I know one thing, in business does not always things go smoothly. Sometimes there will be difficulties, especially during an economic crisis. Many businesses also go bankrupt, the decrease in revenue is nothing.

[STT]

The mistake might be that he is the inverse of a hands off owner, he is the everything to a company which can be advantageous and also a disaster.  Hence why people became bearish on Tesla when he bought Twitter as its a distraction to someone with so little time as it is.
  I don't think his tenure as Twitter CEO has to be said to be a disaster, he was transitioning the company from one thread process to another in theory there is so much room for improvement it merely requires more work to justify itself.  That work is surely not yet complete or even mid way but it is important he delegates to others now so its not just about him.  Some companies fear change, clearly he doesn't especially.  The advertising figures are simple, they can recover so long as he improves traffic and value to those advertisers; I'm not seeing any long term destruction just avoidance perhaps.
  I will judge this whole Musk era Twitter not by that dominant personality but whether he can allow others to take over and do the work, find the right people and it will change everything.

[Gyfts]

Twitter's business model was fucked since Elon bought it. It became his personal playpen - a testbed for some of his ridiculous ideas, if you may. He's trying to use the platform to gauge the public's pulse and perception to his viewpoints. It's an expensive platform for his ideas, but it certainly is important when he's looking for the public's reaction and opinion on some of the things that he's saying on important matters or any business-related tweets that he's looking to get out there.

The business model is the exact same as it was prior to Elon's purchase. Advertising structure works the same way. Only difference is people don't get banned for saying politically inconvenient truths.

There isn't a rise in hate speech -- it's mere propaganda by the same platforms that used Twitter to do their political bidding (MSM) who no longer find their propaganda reach as wide now that free speech is allowed on the platform. Therefore, they work to spread disinformation against Elon and Twitter, like the nonsense that Twitter is a hub for hate speech.

[libert19]

At this rate Twitter will either file for bankruptcy or will be sold for 5-10 billion to new owners. Or maybe Musk will double down and will start using his Tesla/SpaceX money to support Twitter, although if that happens, the shareholders of those companies will be very unhappy. Another way how Twitter can survive a bit longer is if it will secure funding from foreign governments. One of the buyers of Twitter together with Musk was a Saudi prince. Maybe Musk will start offering censorship/propaganda/data harvesting service to governments for a large fee to offset his ad revenue losses. Because blue checkmark sales are clearly not enough.

...or may be he will manipulate Doge /s

[adaseb]

I think we need to give it a few more quarters and see how the ad revenue will go. After he took over, twitter was an absolute mess and many companies just stopped advertising for it. However many are coming back since they see that it’s more stable.

Keep in mind that they reduced their useless staff and also get $8month with their monthly plan. I think we got to give it more time and see what comes of it. However I think he improved the platform a lot. Even instragam started doing the monthly check fee to boost revenue.

[Sithara007]

I think we need to give it a few more quarters and see how the ad revenue will go. After he took over, twitter was an absolute mess and many companies just stopped advertising for it. However many are coming back since they see that it’s more stable.

Keep in mind that they reduced their useless staff and also get $8month with their monthly plan. I think we got to give it more time and see what comes of it. However I think he improved the platform a lot. Even instragam started doing the monthly check fee to boost revenue.

Well.. that is the point. The subscription alone nets them $96 per year per user. And the expenses are down, because they laid off 95% of the staff. Ad revenues are down, because the left-wing groups are engaging on a boycott campaign against Twitter, due to the right-wing views of its owner. FoE doesn't exist for left-wing lunatics. But Twitter still maintains it's absolute monopoly in the micro-blogging domain. None of the competitors even come close. If they maintain their monopoly, then sooner or later, the ad revenues will recover.

According to Travis Brown, there were 444,435 paying Twitter Blue subscribers by end of March 2023. That is around $42 million per year.

[slapper]

Twitter's ad revenue is dwindling faster than a deflated balloon pet, isn't it? But shall we back up and take a look at the big picture? Perhaps this is the spawn of simultaneous shifts in advertising fashion and the global economy. Twitter may be a little slow to adopt the latest and greatest in marketing strategies, such as influencer marketing, native ads, and video reels, which are currently setting the internet on fire.

Musk's proposal to divert money from his other businesses is riskier than riding a unicycle on a tightrope and might lead to a breakdown in corporate governance. Fiduciary duty to shareholders is as important as the final piece of pizza at a party, thus this must not be forgotten. Elon Musk needs a solid wall separating his personal wealth from the inner workings of Tesla and SpaceX.

Concerning sponsorship from foreign governments, one must walk a diplomatic tightrope. It might tarnish Twitter's free-speech reputation with a muddy puddle of political dispute. Twitter might do better to attract strategic partners or advertisers who share their brand's values and community's ideals.

[pooya87]

One of the buyers of Twitter together with Musk was a Saudi prince. Maybe Musk will start offering censorship/propaganda/data harvesting service to governments for a large fee to offset his ad revenue losses.

They have been doing that for many years but it officially started under the code-name "Etidal" in 2017 aiming to data harvest, censor what the regime doesn't like (eg. news about the journalist they murdered in broad daylight) and to spread extremism/terrorism when they want it in places they want. Saudi regime is only one of many customers Twitter has for such operations.

Keep in mind that Musk didn't buy Twitter to make profit (as a business). He did it to gain power over information and in the political scene. This means such drops does not matter at all, the only drop that matters is in the number of users and the propaganda's reach which is not happening so far.

[retreat]

My view is that Musk will stick around and make some changes to Twitter's corporate strategy. The current drop in revenue is understandable, as there have been several controversial Musk decisions which have caused many users to switch to other platforms and as a result advertisers are less interested in advertising on Twitter. Especially now that Twitter has not found the right strategy to be able to increase their revenue. They're just fixated on advertisers, analytics, and the blue ticks they rent out to their users. But I think that Musk will definitely find a solution for this, given that he is a smart businessman who can see the opportunities in the future.

[mu_enrico]

This is incomplete information IMO since there's no information about the industry average. To objectively measure firm performance, you need to look at what Meta (FB), TikTok, Instagram, etc. doing. If the competitors have a better number, then we can say that Twitter is currently underperforming.

Still, I just can't understand why Elon bought Twitter in the first place. The company was in decline even before the acquisition.