Twitter Withdraws Q1 Guidance As Ad Revenues Crash

So sad.

Moments ago Twitter, which in recent months has taken upon itself to become the supreme arbiter of all that is politically correct, noble and just (or at least is not frowned upon by the Chinese Communist Party) in this cruel world where readers are completely unable to make up their minds on their own without a blue bird telling them what they should or should not read, and what, in its eyes, is arbitrary fake news, which is ironic for a company whose Associate General Counsel and Senior Legal Director Jeff Rich recently incited the “culling” of a standing president in clear violation of the company’s terms of service…

YES!! Again, this 👇 Excise the Trump cancer, then deliberate over policy differences. He is the single most destructive force against our system of government, way of life and American values EVER! He must be culled from the herd. ASAP! https://t.co/MVfdAylV2H

— Jeff Rich (@jeffrich) February 1, 2020

… and which until recently was caught in an activist investor spat with Elliott’s Paul Singer who demanded the ouster of Africa-bound CEO, Jack Dorsey, before reaching some behind the scenes agreement that allowed @Jack to remain at the company and at the colon cleansing safari lodge at the same time, announced it is withdrawing its Q1 revenue and operating income guidance for the first quarter amid a plunge in ad revenue, while also withdrawing its outlook for expenses, stock-based compensation, headcount, and capital expenditures for the full year due to coronavirus pandemic.

Blaming the covid pandemic, which is bizarre as virtually every American is now stuck in front of their computers blasting meaningless text message into the ether in hopes of impressing their echo chamber, Twitter said that “based on current visibility, the company expects Q1 revenue to be down slightly on a year-over-year basis. Twitter also expects to incur a GAAP operating loss, as reduced expenses resulting from COVID-19 disruption are unlikely to fully offset the revenue impact of the pandemic in Q1.”

“Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation, and in these trying times our work has never been more critical. We’re seeing a meaningful increase in people using Twitter, and our teams are demonstrating incredible resilience adapting to this unprecedented environment,” said Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer. “We’ll continue to navigate this environment focusing on supporting our employees, customers, and partners, while strengthening our service for everyone around the world and adjusting to a new operating and economic environment.”

“Twitter had a strong start to the year before the effects of COVID-19 began spreading more broadly, including a successful Super Bowl and overall strength in the US. The COVID-19 impact began in Asia, and as it unfolded into a global pandemic, it has impacted Twitter’s advertising revenue globally more significantly in the last few weeks,” said Ned Segal, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer. “We have made solid progress on our consumer and revenue product priorities and we remain confident in our opportunity and strategy. We hope everyone stays healthy and safe.”

Of course, the culprit is not a drop in traffic: indeed, Twitter like everyone else online is benefiting from the surge in online conversations, and the company admits as much saying that “global conversation about COVID-19 as well as ongoing product improvements are driving strength in total monetizable DAU (mDAU), with quarter-to-date average total mDAU reaching approximately 164 million, up 23% from 134 million in Q1 2019 and up 8% from 152 million in Q4 2019. “

Instead, what this means is that Twitter’s ad revenue – as all other online portals – is in freefall, as the coronavirus emerges as the catalyst that cripples not only Twitter but all other ad-supported tech giants, such as Facebook and Google.

Who knows maybe once this is all over, Twitter will be forced to lay off its pro-establishment content nazis and the platform that started off as an experiment in free speech will finally return to its roots.