Why Twilio Shares Are Rising Today

Twilio Inc TWLO is trading higher Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued guidance above estimates. 

Twilio said quarterly revenue increased 54% year-over-year to $842.74 million, which beat the estimate of $767.84 million. The company reported an earnings loss of 20 cents per share, which beat the estimate for a loss of 21 cents per share. 

"Our fourth quarter capped off an amazing year of results as we delivered more than $2.8 billion in revenue for the year, growing 61% year-over-year," said Jeff Lawson, co-Founder and CEO of Twilio.

"The combination of our leading cloud communications platform with Twilio Segment's #1 customer data platform gives Twilio an unparalleled view into the customer journey, and I've never been more excited about the future of the company than I am today," Lawson added.

Twilio said it expects first-quarter revenue to be between $855 million and $865 million versus the $802.91 million estimate. The company expects to lose between 22 and 26 cents per share versus the estimate for a loss of 5 cents per share. 

Analyst Assessment: Several analysts adjusted price targets on the stock following Twilio's financial results:

• Keybanc analyst Steve Enders maintained Twilio with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $283 to $320.
• Needham analyst Ryan Koontz maintained Twilio with a Buy rating and lowered the price target from $400 to $350.
• Macquarie maintained Twilio with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $281 to $306.
• Mizuho analyst Siti Panigrahi maintained Twilio with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $250 to $300.

See Also: Twilio: Q4 Earnings Insights

TWLO Price Action: Twilio has traded as low as $172.62 and as high as $457.30 over a 52-week period.

The stock was up 12.8% at $227.86 at time of publication.

Photo: Web Summit from Flickr.