2018-04-30

Fintech Startup Revolut CEO on Expansion Plans, Hiring Strategy

 Revolut.com
Revolut CEO on Expansion Plans and Hiring Strategy (video): Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut.com's chief executive officer, discusses the company's global expansion plans and hiring strategy. He speaks with Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde on "Bloomberg Technology" April 27, 2018.
"Your everyday banking alternative. Instant spending analytics, free money transfers, fee-free travel and crypto."--source: Revolut
Revolut Ltd is a digital banking alternative. Services include a pre-paid debit card, currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, and peer-to-peer payments.
  • CEO: Nikolay Storonsky
  • Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
  • Founded: 2013
  • Native client(s) on: Android, iOS
  • Employees: 300+ (2017)
  • Founders: Nikolay Storonsky, Vlad Yatsenko
@RevolutApp


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DISCLAIMER

2018-04-29

News Review | GDPR Moratorium Just Another ICANN 'Fantasy'

graphic "News Review" ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-04-29) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck News: 26 Days Until May 25 a. GDPR Moratorium Just Another ICANN 'Fantasy', b. ICANN Was Warned Repeatedly, c. WHOIS and GDPR--separating Fact from Fiction & Hysterics, d. NCSG "Must Read", e. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! 2) Other ICANN news, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks, 4) ICYMI, 5) Most Read.
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose--the more things change, the more they stay the same--ICANN.dysfunctional | Computerworld.com Dec 12, 2011: "... ICANN today is a dysfunctional and self-justifying organization ..."
1) ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck News--Days Until May 25: 
ICANN President & CEO Goran Marby's Letter to Article 29 Working Party (pdf)
a. GDPR Moratorium Just Another ICANN 'Fantasy'--Incompetent ICANN Management Team's Delusional Plan for a GDPR 'Moratorium':
"The GDPR does not allow national supervisory authorities nor the European Data Protection Board to create an 'enforcement moratorium' for individual data controllers ... Data protection is a fundamental right of individuals, who may submit complaints to their national data protection authority whenever they consider that their rights under the GDPR have been violated."--Article 29 Working Party. See Europe fires back at ICANN's delusional plan to overhaul Whois for GDPR by next, er, year | TheRegister.co.uk: "ICANN had made the concept of a moratorium the central pillar of its effort to become compliant with the law. But its entire strategy was built on a fantasy."--Kieren McCarthy, former ICANN staffer, writing in The Register (link above) (emphasis added); read the Article 29 Working Party's full statement here.
b. ICANN Was Warned, Repeatedly (since 2003), by the EU Article 29 Working Party
06 June 2013 Letter (pdf) to Steve Crocker, ICANN Chairman, and Fadi Chehadé, ICANN CEO, from the Article 29 Working Party (excerpt):
"In general, we repeat that the problem of inaccurate contact details in the WHOIS database cannot be solved without addressing the root of the problem: the unlimited public accessibility of private contact details in the WHOIS database. In that light, the Working Party welcomes the growing number of [ccTLD] registries in Europe that are offering layered access to the WHOIS data."
c.  WHOIS and GDPR--separating Fact from Fiction & Hysterics
WHOIS afraid of the dark? Truth or illusion, let's know the difference when it comes to WHOIS | InternetGovernance.org"... WHOIS isn’t going dark; the only fields that are going to be cloaked are those that cybersecurity researchers and investigators might not even need in order to do their jobs. Those who need additional information, such as law enforcement agencies involved in a legitimate investigation, will be able to get more. In this post, we will explore the small changes coming to the WHOIS, and we will reveal how little an impact they are likely to have when you fight spam, botnets, and DDoS attacks ... ICANN has had a long history of violating basic data protection norms ... The privacy rights of domain name registrants have been ignored for far too long by ICANN ..."

Identity Theft via the ICANN Public WHOIS: How to Steal Someone's Identity in 45 Minutes | tomsguide.com [When your target also happens to be a domain name registrant, start with ICANN's  free and public WHOIS as your first step. In many, if not most cases, it will give you the target's name, full address, phone number, email address--everything any cyber criminal or scammer needs to get started. For the rest, see Tom's Guide at the link aboveOf course this may all change when the European Union's GDPR becomes enforceable May 25, 2018.]

13 April 2018 Data Protection/Privacy FAQs | ICANN.org [PDF, 76 KB] excerpt:

d. ICANN Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group re: ICANN’s Non-Compliance with European Data Protection Law (pdf)--a "must read"--embed below:

e. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
Data Protection/Privacy Issues Update: Summarizing our Recent Meeting with Article 29 Working Party (WP29) Technology Subgroup April 23, 2018 | ICANN.org by Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO:  "... Today in Brussels, ICANN org's Akram Atallah, John Jeffrey, Elena Plexida*, and Theresa Swinehart joined me ... to meet with the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) Technology Subgroup ... We reiterated to the WP29 that we are committed to compliance with the law ..." [*Elena Plexida, a former EU agency employee, is a recent ICANN hire.]

Editor's note: I asked ICANN CEO Goran Marby on February 22, 2018, on the ICANN Quarterly Stakeholder Call: "When did you first become aware of the ramifications of the EU GDPR for ICANN?" 
Marby answered that he first became aware of the ramifications of the EU GDPR for ICANN, in May (2016), shortly after he started as ICANN President and CEO.
Now Marby seems to have changed his story. In his April 23 blog post, Marby now claims: "... One question that has been asked many times is: why didn’t we start the process earlier? I guess there are many answers to that question, but one might be lack of awareness ..." 

As I have noted before (pdf), lying is part of the corporate and organizational culture of ICANN. But why does lying appear to be continually endemic at the highest levels of ICANN? Probably because ICANN has not had principled leadership for a very long time, and the ICANN organizational culture accepts lying as a "normal" way to interact with people in order to avoid accountability. Frankly, in any functional and accountable modern corporation, under similar circumstances, the CEO and "management team" responsible for this "train wreck" would resign or be fired.
"[T]he United States government is also dissatisfied with ICANN. The Commerce Department said it had canceled a request for proposals to run the so-called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority because none of the bids met its requirements: “the need for structural separation of policy-making from implementation, a robust company wide conflict of interest policy, provisions reflecting heightened respect for local country laws and a series of consultation and reporting requirements to increase transparency and accountability to the international community.”"--March 18, 2012, New York Times.
 Related:
  • 27 April 2018 Letter from ICANN (Jamie Hedlund) to Graeme Bunton (pdf) re: ICANN RrSG Audit Postponement Request: "Thank you for your letter of 20 April 2018, requesting postponement of the 2018 Spring Registrar Audit to allow registrars adequate opportunity to implement changes required to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR]The April 2018 registrar audit round is on hold ..."
  • eco/i2Coalition Update Webinar On ICANN Contracted Party GDPR Compliance | i2Coalition.com: "On May 9th, we will provide an update on the current status of the compliance, analyze the correspondence with the Article 29 group, and discuss possible solutions. We will walk through the eco GDPR Domain Industry Playbook and will take a look beyond WHOIS e.g. data for registration, data required to be escrowed and data retained under ICANN’s contracts. May 9th 10 AM – 11 AM ET (Washington D.C.) 2 PM – 3 PM UTC 4 PM – 5 PM CEST (Berlin)" Editor's note: register for the webinar at the link above.

2) Other ICANN news
graphic "ICANN | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers"
a. ICYMI New gTLD .WEB UPDATE: New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co?Afilias drops "bomb" on ICANN Board--16 April 2018 Letter from Arif Ali (Afilias) to ICANN Board (published by ICANN April 23, 2018 and embed in full at the link above)--excerpt:
Afilias requests the aforementioned updates because it intends to initiate a CEP and a subsequent IRP against ICANN, if ICANN proceeds toward delegation of .WEB to NDC. Afilias also reserves the right to pursue claims against ICANN in a court of law. As Afilias has previously informed ICANN, it has numerous objections to ICANN’s conduct with respect to NDC’s actions during the .WEB auction and its agreement to assign Verisign the .WEB gTLD, including but not limited to the antitrust and competition issues raised by Verisign’s acquisition of the .WEB gTLD. (emphasis and links added) 
b. ICANN62 GNSO Draft schedule | ICANN.org (pdf) (as of 26 Apr 2018, subject to revision).
 ICANN 62

c. ICANN Public Comment Periods Closing in May (subject to change):

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks
graphic "Names, Domains & Trademarks" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
a. Verisign $VRSN Q1 2018 financial results:
  • End of Q4 2017: 131.9 million .COM domain names and 14.5 million .NET domain names 
  • End of Q1 2018133.9 million .COM domain names and 14.4 million .NET domain names
For the first quarter of 2018, a net increase of 2 million .COM domain name registrations. .COM is the most popular and market-dominant (in the U.S. and globally) top-level domain (TLD). The pricing of .COM domain names is thankfully, price-controlled by NTIA (U.S. government), not ICANN. [Editor's note: under ICANN's sole control, the gTLD .COM would start to decline just like .NET, as ICANN has proven to be incompetent.]

A continuing decline of 100,000 .NET domain name registrations due to mismanagement of .NET pricing by incompetent ICANN. World's ten most popular TLDs (2017 data) here. .COM ranks first ('by a mile'), and .NET ranks fifth (behind .COM, .CN (China), .TK (Tokelau), .DE (Germany) and just ahead of sixth-place .UK (United Kingdom) and seventh-place .ORG.

Verisign reported revenues and EPS that exceeded Wall Street's consensus estimates, the stock closed Friday at $118.30 per share, a 33% gain YOY. Market capitalization of $VRSN as of Friday: $11.26 billion. Verisign management also reported the company is already discussing with NTIA the Cooperative Agreement (which controls .COM pricing) which can be extended (and hopefully will be) by NTIA beyond November 30, 2018. Verisign management also said it is waiting for ICANN to delegate .WEB but is not including any .WEB revenue in 2018 guidance. More information here.

b. ccTLD .EU: 
Euro idiocrats backtrack on plan to kill off Brits' 300,000 .eu domains | TheRegister.co.uk. EU now proposes to open .EU for registration by anyone in the world. More information here. [Editor's note: a smart move to open up .EU.]

c. Google On How To Reverse A Site Move & Go Back To Original URLs | seroundtable.com.  Editor's note: a good resource for those "suckers" who got "conned" into switching their domain names to one of ICANN'new gTLDs whose known problems (since at least 2003) include "failing to work as expected on the internet" otherwise known as "ICANN's Consumer Fraud Scheme" or ICANN's euphemistic phrase "universal acceptance issues."

d. $GDDY: GoDaddy surpasses one million customers in India | business-standard.com.

e. ICYMI--Editor's note: a good read even if you don't live in Australia--ccTLD .au domain review released | Department of Communications and the Arts | communications.gov.au.

See also Disneyland trips and more: Police called into 'dot au' dispute | thenewdaily.com.au: "The auDA self-regulatory model ... appears to be running out of time to get its governance and accountability in order" and  Grumpier.com.au | Member Site.

f. Crypto domains--darkreading.com: ".bit domains are increasingly being used to hide payloads, stolen data, and command and control servers, FireEye says."

g. Authorities bust world's largest DDoS-for-hire service & seizes its domain | hackread.com

h. Registrars Suspend 11 Pirate Site Domains, 89 More in the Crosshairs | TorrentFreak.com

h. French Gov't Illegally 'Seized' France.com, US Owner Says | Law360.com

i. Melbourne IT will change its name to Arq Group to underline the shift away from its historical domain name registration and hosting business.--afr.com.

j. China Trademarks: The De Facto Public Domain Mark | ChinaLawBlog.com: "... the Chinese Trademark Office (CTMO) and the Chinese court system have different standards for what makes one trademark “confusingly similar” to another, which is the statutory basis for determining whether one trademark conflicts with another. To make things even more confusing, neither the CTMO nor the Chinese court system has a uniform, clearly articulated standard ..."

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 
graphic "ICYMI Internet Domain News" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
a. Iran: Iran bans government bodies from using foreign message apps | apnews.com. [Editor's note: Iran has a point, you don't know who to trust anymore, for example, knowledgeable domain name registrants certainly don't trust ICANN, and if you are a user of messaging apps, do you really trust Facebook's Messenger or WhatsApp?] See also Google’s new Chat service shows total contempt for Android users’ privacy | Amnesty.org"baffling decision to launch a messaging service without end-to-end encryption, Google has shown utter contempt for the privacy of Android users and handed a precious gift to cybercriminals and government spies alike, allowing them easy access to the content of Android users’ communications." And also  Russia: Russia blocks Google, Amazon IP addresses in bid to ban Telegram | cnbc.com and An 'internet civil war' has erupted in Russia | AlJazeera.com.

b. EU: EU proposes regulating how web platforms treat businesses | TheHill.com: "would require platforms such as Google to be more transparent with businesses about their placement in search engine results, which can have a huge impact on a company’s success." See also Facebook says users must accept targeted ads even under new EU privacy law | Reuters.com.

c.  Censorship: A Recent Update from Google Could Severely Hamper Anti-Censorship Tools | gizmodo.com: ".... Domain fronting is used to bypass censors by hiding the true endpoint of a connection ..."

d. U.S. vs. Internet Freedom: 
e. AFRICA:
f. Canada: Dear Canada: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime | Electronic Frontier Foundation | EFF.org.

5) Most read posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 
graphic "Domain Mondo" ©2017 DomainMondo.com



Audience stats--Domain Mondo's readers' geolocation--top five countries: 1) U.S., 2) Germany, 3) France, 4) Norway, 5) China.

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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2018-04-28

Tech Review | Tech Regulation and Volatility in the VC Landscape (video)

graphic "Tech Review" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
Tech Review (TR 2018-04-28)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Tech Regulation and Volatility in the Venture Capital Landscape, 2) New Era of European Startup Investing, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes4) ICYMI Tech News.

1) Tech Regulation and Volatility in the Venture Capital Landscape

Trae Vassallo, Defy Partners Management (domain: defy.vc) managing director, discusses possible regulation of the tech sector and other current issues affecting the technology sector. She spoke with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Technology" April 17, 2018.

See also Blowback Against Facebook, Google And Amazon Is Just Beginning | ZeroHedge.com: "... people are starting to question the social and political costs of these tech darlings' dominance and the billions in profits they reap ... We all understand how Corporate Media undermines democracy: recall how every time Bernie Sanders won a Democratic primary in 2016, The New York Times and The Washington Post "reported" the news in small typeface in a sidebar, while every Hillary Clinton primary win was trumpeted in large headlines at the top of page one. But this sort of manipulation is visible; what Google and Facebook do is invisible ... Amazon is the embodiment of numerous destructive dynamics ..."

2) European VCs Raise Cash in New Era of Startup Investing

Dawn Capital (domain: dawncapital.com) General Partner Haakon Overli and Octopus Ventures (domain: octopusventures.com) CEO Alliott Cole discuss the hundreds of millions in new funding raised to invest in European startups. They joined Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde Tuesday on "Bloomberg Technology" April 19, 2018.

See also Why Venture Capital is Pouring Into Token Startups | YouTube.com Apr 13, 2018:  Lonne Jaffe, managing director at Insight Venture Partners (domain: insightpartners.com), discusses investing in cryptocurrency and technology startups with Bloomberg.com's Joe Weisenthal on "What'd You Miss.""

3) Investing
graphic: "INVESTING"  ©2017 DomainMondo.com
The Week--NASDAQ Composite | S&P 500 Index | DJIA--markets basically "flat" for the week.
Investing Notes:
  • Q1 2018 earnings this past week on DomainMondo.com: Alphabet, Twitter, Facebook, Verisign, Amazon
  • Deutsche Bank Abandons Global Investment Banking: Deutsche will concentrate on its European home market, in contrast to UK-based Barclays, its main European rival. Barclays reported Thursday pre-tax profits at its corporate and investment bank rose 48 per cent in the quarter, beating Wall Street rivals with a 21 per cent surge in trading revenue (in US dollar terms).
  • Tech chaos blocks Spanish-owned bank's UK customers from their funds: Day 5 |  "But as they say here in Spain, haste can kill (la prisa mata)."--WolfStreet.com.

4) ICYMI Tech News:
graphic: "ICYMI Tech News" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
  • Amazon will raise the US price of Prime for the first time in 4 years, from $99 to $119; change will take effect for new subs May 11 and existing subs June 16--Recode.net

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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2018-04-27

A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry That Makes Money From Your Personal Data

A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry That Makes Its Living From Your Data (infographic):
"The goal of data brokers, such as Experian (domain: experian.com) or Acxiom (domain: acxiom.com), is to siphon up as much personal data as possible and apply it to profiles. This data comes from a wide variety of sources. Your purchases, financial history, internet activity, and even psychographic attributes are mixed with information from public records to create a robust dossier. Digital profiles are then sorted into one of thousands of categories to help optimize advertising efforts ... companies are increasingly moving beyond advertising to extract value from their growing data pipeline. Amalgamated data is increasingly being viewed as a clever way to assess risk in the decision-making process (e.g. hiring, insurance, loan or housing applications), and the stakes for consumers are going up in the process ... In 2015, Facebook filed a patent for a service that would help insurance companies vet people based on the credit ratings of their social network."
Selected tweets: Acxiom, GDPR, data, privacy, consumer, Facebook, Google, AppNexus, advertising online:

Related on DomainMondo.com:

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2018-04-26

Verisign $VRSN Q1 2018 Earnings LIVE Webcast April 26 Replay


$VRSN
Verisign, Inc.
Q1 2018 Verisign Earnings Conference Call April 26, 2018 at 4:30 PM EDT Listen to Webcast

VeriSign (VRSN) Q1 2018 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | SeekingAlpha.com excerpt: "At the end of March, the domain name base in .com and .net totaled 148.3 million, consisting of 133.9 million names for .com and 14.4 million names for .net ... we believe that the renewal rate for the first quarter of 2018 will be 74.9%. This preliminary rate compares to 72.5% achieved in the first quarter of 2017. We now expect full year 2018 domain name base growth of between 2.5% and 3.25%, with an increase to the domain name base for the second quarter of 2018 of between 0.7 million to 1.2 million net registrations. I also want to report that we are engaged in the dialogue with NTIA concerning the Cooperative Agreement which is ongoing, but beyond that we don't have more to say at this time ... we're engaged in ICANN's process to move the delegation forward for [new gTLD] .WEB. That's ICANN's process, so we can't say when it'll conclude. Just as a reminder to, for all of you looking at the guidance of course, while it's possible that we'll – our operation of .web will start this year. We did not include – the 2018 revenue guidance provided does not include any revenue from .web, and we'll give you more update as available, but unfortunately that's all I can give you now..."--D. James Bidzos, Verisign Chairman, President & CEO (emphasis added).

Q1 2018 Verisign Earnings Conference Call

Earnings Results (pdf): First Quarter GAAP Financial Results 
VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $299 million for the first quarter of 2018, up 3.7% percent from the same quarter in 2017. Verisign reported net income of $134 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.09 for the first quarter of 2018, compared to net income of $116 million and diluted EPS of $0.94 for the same quarter in 2017. The operating margin was 62.0 percent for the first quarter of 2018 compared to 60.7 percent for the same quarter in 2017.

Financial Highlights • On Feb. 15, 2018, Verisign called for the redemption of all its outstanding subordinated convertible debentures, with a redemption date of May 1, 2018. If holders elect to convert their debentures, Verisign will settle the principal amount, up to $1.25 billion, in cash and the remaining value through the issuance of shares of Verisign’s common stock. • Verisign ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $2.4 billion, a decrease of $58 million from year-end 2017. • During the first quarter, Verisign repatriated $1.15 billion of cash held by foreign subsidiaries, net of foreign withholding taxes. • Cash flow from operating activities was $90 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared with $148 million for the same quarter in 2017. The first quarter 2018 amount reflects approximately $61 million in withholding taxes paid in connection with the repatriation. • Deferred revenues on March 31, 2018, totaled $1.03 billion, an increase of $27 million from year-end 2017. • During the first quarter, Verisign repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock for $125 million. At March 31, 2018, $938 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program which has no expiration. • For purposes of calculating diluted EPS, the first quarter diluted share count included 25.6 million shares related to the subordinated convertible debentures, compared with 21.3 million shares for the same quarter in 2017. 

Business Highlights • Verisign ended the first quarter with 148.3 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 3.2 percent increase from the end of the first quarter of 2017, and a net increase of 1.91 million during the first quarter of 2018. • In the first quarter, Verisign processed 9.6 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, compared to 9.5 million for the same quarter in 2017. • The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2017 was 72.2 percent compared with 67.6 percent for the same quarter in 2016. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.

Earnings Presentation (pdf)

10-Q (pdf)

Quarterly VRSN Convertible Debenture Dilution Q1-2018 (pdf)

Additional resources:
Related: New gTLD .WEB: Afilias vs ICANN, Verisign $VRSN & Nu Dot Co? | DomainMondo.com

2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of VeriSign, Inc. to be held at the corporate offices located at 12061 Bluemont Way, Reston, Virginia 20190 on Thursday, May 24, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., EDT.

Verisign to Report First Quarter 2018 Financial Results (press release):
 Press Release

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DISCLAIMER

2018-04-25

Facebook $FB Q1 2018 Financial Results LIVE Webcast April 25 Replay

$FB
Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB see also Twitter $FB) first quarter 2018 (Q1 2018) financial results released after market close on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. Facebook will host a conference call to discuss its results at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. EDT the same day. The LIVE webcast of the call can be accessed via Facebook Investor Relations website at investor.fb.com -- direct link below:
Earnings Release (pdf) embed below

Slides (pdf) embed below

Following the call, a replay will be available above at the same website. A telephonic replay will be available for one week following the conference call at 404.537.3406 or 855.859.2056, Conference ID: 6068418.

Disclosure Information provided by Facebook:

Facebook uses the investor.fb.com and newsroom.fb.com websites as well as Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page (facebook.com/zuck) as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. See also Twitter $FB.

About Facebook (source: Facebook, Inc.):
Founded in 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.




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DISCLAIMER

Twitter $TWTR Q1 2018 Financial Results LIVE Webcast April 25 Replay

$TWTR
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) released financial results for the first quarter of 2018 on April 25, 2018, before the market open at approximately 4:00 a.m. Pacific Time (7:00 a.m. EDT).

LIVE Webcast: on April 25, 2018, Twitter hosted a conference call to discuss these financial results at 8:00 a.m. EDTinvestor.twitterinc.com

Twitter First Quarter Earnings Conference Call (replay)

First Quarter 2018 Operational and Financial Highlights:
The company reported first quarter revenue of $665 million, an increase of 21% year-over-year. Quarterly GAAP net income was $61 million, representing a GAAP net margin of 9% and GAAP diluted EPS of $0.08. This compares with a quarterly GAAP net loss of $62 million, a GAAP net margin of (11%) and GAAP diluted EPS of ($0.09) for the same period last year. Quarterly non-GAAP net income was $123 million, representing a non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.16. This compares with a quarterly non-GAAP net income of $53 million, representing a non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.07 for the same period last year. As a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the blended US federal and state statutory tax rate used to calculate the company’s reported non-GAAP provisions for income taxes decreased from 37% to 24% beginning in Q1 2018. Approximately $21 million of the $70 million year-over-year increase in non-GAAP net income resulted from this change. Adjusted EBITDA was $244 million or 37% of total revenue, compared to $170 million or 31% of total revenue for the same period last year. Average monthly active users (MAUs) were 336 million for the quarter, an increase of 3% year-over-year and an increase of 6 million compared to 330 million in the previous quarter. Average daily active users (DAU) grew 10% year-over-year, marking another quarter of double-digit growth.

Outlook
For Q2, we expect:
• Adjusted EBITDA to be between $245 million and $265 million
• Adjusted EBITDA margin to be between 37% and 38%
• Stock-based compensation expense to be in the range of $85 million to $95 million
For FY 2018, we expect:
• Stock-based compensation expense to be in the range of $350 million to $450 million
• Capital expenditures to be between $375 million and $450 million
Note that our outlook for Q2 and the full year 2018 reflects foreign exchange rates as of April 16, 2018.

Selected Company Metrics and Financials (pdf)

Twitter, Inc., follows the conversation about the earnings announcement on Twitter. To have your questions considered during the Q&A, Tweet your question to @TwitterIR using #TWTR. To listen to a live audio webcast, please visit the company’s Investor Relations page at investor.twitterinc.com. Twitter has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website and the Twitter accounts of @jack, @twitter and @TwitterIR as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. See also on Twitter $TWTR.

Press release:

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2018-04-24

SOHN Conference, New York, April 23, 2018, Recap

SOHN Conference, New York | sohnconference.orgApril 23, 2018, Recap: New York Sohn Investment Conference's speakers on April 23 included David Einhorn, Jeffrey Gundlach, Benchmark's Bill Gurley, Glenview Capital Management's Larry Robbins and Half Sky Capital's Li Ran--but Gundlach stole the show wearing his purple suit!
A Look Back:


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