Twilio Shares Rise 28% on Q1 Beat, Raised Outlook

Twilio Inc. shares surged as much as 28 percent on Friday, reaching a four-year high above 179, after the cloud communications company reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook.

The San Francisco-based firm, which provides APIs for developers to embed messaging, voice, video and authentication into applications, posted revenue of 1.41 billion dollars for the quarter ended March 31. That figure marked a 20 percent increase from a year earlier and exceeded analyst estimates of about 1.34 billion dollars. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 1.50 dollars, topping forecasts of 1.27 dollars and up 32 percent year over year. Organic revenue, excluding acquisitions, rose 16 percent.

Twilio attributed the performance to robust demand for its AI-enhanced offerings, particularly in voice services. "Twilio had a terrific Q1, accelerating revenue and gross profit to their highest growth rates in more than three years," CEO Khozema Shipchandler said in a statement. He added during an analyst call that the company saw "unprecedented demand for voice reimagined through the lens of AI, which is increasingly an entry point to the Twilio platform for...