Analysis Of Twilio’s Zipwhip Acquisition

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According to a Grand View Research market report, the global unified communication as a service market is expected to be worth $38.74 billion this year and is expected to grow at 24% CAGR from 2021 to 2028. Communications PaaS player Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) recently announced its first quarter results that surpassed market expectations. Twilio is expanding its presence through acquisitions and partnerships.

Twilio’s Financials

For the first quarter, Twilio’s revenues grew an impressive 62% to $590 million, surging ahead of the market’s forecast of $533.61 million. EPS was $0.05 per share, shattering the market’s expectations of a loss of $0.10 per share.

Among key metrics, its active customer accounts grew by 190,000 to 235,000. The company ended the quarter with 5,482 employees. Dollar-Based Net Expansion Rate, which is calculated using total revenue, was 133% compared to 143% a year ago.

Twilio expects to end the second quarter with revenues of $591-$601 million and a loss of $0.16-$0.13 per share, which was significantly ahead of the Street’s forecast of revenues of $599.68 million and a loss of $0.13 per share.

Twilio’s Zipwhip Acquisition

Recently, Twilio announced the acquisition of Seattle-based Zipwhip for an estimated $850 million. Founded in 2007 by Anthony Riemma, John Larson, John Lauer, and Michael Smyers, Zipwhip’s software enables businesses to have more effective conversations with people by text-enabling existing phone numbers. It uses direct network connectivity and out-of-the-box software to allow customers of any business the option to text or call and gives businesses the opportunity to handle two-way text conversations at scale. The acquisition will allow Twilio to deliver more secure, high-quality toll-free traffic at scale. It will provide Twilio with the ability to elevate the customer experience, assisting brands with better communicating through a growing channel. Prior to the acquisition, Zipwhip raised $91.1 million from investors such as OpenView, Goldman Sachs, M12, Voyager Capital, GCI Com, and Inteliquent.

Analysts are pleased with the acquisition and believe that Zipwhip’s integration will allow Twilio to stay ahead of the competition by providing it with the ability to enable digital engagement for customers in a more personalized way. Zipwhip had over 35,000 customers globally and has recorded revenue growth of over 400% over the past three years.

Recently, Twilio also announced an extended partnership with Syniverse by investing $750 million in the company for a minority stake. Syniverse Technologies helps mobile providers move communications across public and private networks. The partnership will help expand Twilio’s API communications through Syniverse’s mobile carrier contacts to deliver an end-to-end communications system. Analysts believe the investment will be very accretive to Twilio’s growth as it will get access to Syniverse’s capabilities in industrial IoT and private 4G LTE and 5G cellular networking. It will help Twilio reach those parts of the enterprise that are not connected by Wi-FI.

Its stock is currently trading at $316.31 with a market cap of $54.6 billion. The stock had climbed to a 52-week high of $457.30 in February. It hit a 52-week low of $177.13 in June last year.

Disclosure: All investors should make their own assessments based on their own research, informed interpretations, and risk appetite. This article expresses my own opinions based on my own research of product-market fit, channel execution, and other factors. My primary interest is in product strategy. While this may have bearing on stock movements, my writings tend to focus on long-term implications. The information presented is illustrative and educational, but should not be regarded as a complete analysis nor recommendation to buy or sell the securities mentioned herein. I am not a registered investment adviser and I am not receiving compensation for this article. I am an investor in this company.

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Photo credit: Ken Yeung/Flickr.com.