Fly Intel: What to watch in Twitter earnings report

Twitter (TWTR) is scheduled to report results of its first fiscal quarter before the market open on Tuesday, April 23, with a conference call scheduled for 8:00 am ET. What to watch: 1. USER METRICS: Twitter's monthly active users, or MAUs, are a closely watched measure of its popularity and growth potential. Last quarter, the company reported global MAUs decreased 2% sequentially to 321M users and 3% year-over-year. Meanwhile the company's U.S. base decreased 2% sequentially to 66M users, a decrease of 3% year-over-year. Along with its Q4 earnings, Twitter said it would stop reporting MAUs after Q1 in favor of reporting monetizable daily active users. "We want to provide something valuable to people on Twitter every day, and we believe that monetizable DAU, or mDAU, and its related growth, are the best ways to measure our success. Monetizable DAU are Twitter users who log in and access Twitter on any given day through Twitter.com or our Twitter applications that are able to show ads. Our mDAU are not comparable to current disclosures from other companies, many of whom share a more expansive metric that includes people who are not seeing ads... As a result, starting this quarter, in addition to sharing the growth in mDAU as we have since 2016, we are disclosing the absolute number of average mDAU, previously referred to as DAU, for both the US and international markets." In Q4, the company reported global mDAUs increased 1% sequentially to 126M users and 9% year-over-year, while the company's U.S. base increased 1% sequentially to 27M users, an increase of 5% year-over-year. 2. AD REVENUE: Key to Twitter's business model is its ability to drive advertisers to the platform. In Q4, the company reported a roughly 24% increase in ad revenue versus last year. On the Q4 earnings conference call, CEO Jack Dorsey said, "We've been making a lot of progress on making Twitter a clear choice and a strong choice for advertisers. And it has to do with anytime an advertiser or brand needs to launch something new, whether it'd be a product or a service, or connect with what's happening into a current conversation that might resonate with their current customers or would-be customers. We've been focusing and observing a lot on what advertisers need and matching them with the topics and the interests that their customers have, so we can place them in a consideration bucket that allows them to easily be seen and be talked about, which generates a conversation that they can learn from and continue to hone their message as they build and launch their products." 3. NEW FEATURES, UPDATES: Since Jack Dorsey's return as CEO, Twitter has increasingly pivoted into new content such as live-streamed events and sports while tweaking its core product. In January, the company announced a live streaming deal with The NBA and Turner Sports (T) to provide U.S. fans with a complementary experience on Twitter for 20 NBA on TNT games this season. Additionally in January, the official @Twitter account tweeted, "A new URL is coming. Some of you got an opt-in to try it now. Check out the emoji button, quick keyboard shortcuts, upgraded trends, advanced search, and more." In February, the social network tweeted, "We're testing an easier way to check out profiles on iOS without leaving your timeline! Simply tap any @ handle in a Tweet, take a peek, follow, and get right back to it." In March, Twitter Safety said, "We want to move faster in reviewing reported Tweets that share personal information. Starting today, you'll be able to tell us more about the Tweet you are reporting." Additionally in March, The Drone Racing League announced a new streaming partnership with Twitter and broadcast agreement with NBC and NBC Sports (CMCSA, CMCSK) to air the 2019 DRL Allianz World Championship Season.