Elon Musk responds to Twitter blame for poor quarterly results

Elon Musk fired back at Twitter on Friday after the social media giant partially blamed its second-quarter revenue on uncertainty surrounding the upcoming $44 billion acquisition of the Tesla CEO.

“I’m rubber, they’re glue,” Musk tweeted.

The social media giant reported total revenue of $1.18 billion for the second quarter, including ad revenue of $1.08 billion and subscription and other revenue of $101 million. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected total revenues of $1.32 billion.

Twitter said it faced $33 million in costs during the quarter related to the acquisition. In addition to Musk’s deal, the company cited “advertising industry headwinds related to the macro environment.”

I’m made of rubber, they’re glue

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2022

Earlier this month, Musk announced he would end the deal, alleging that Twitter is “in material breach of multiple provisions” of the agreement and appears to have made “false and misleading statements” when it closed Musk’s takeover bid on April 25. accepted. disputed Twitter’s internal estimates that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of its users.

In response to the allegations made by Musk and his team, Twitter called the “alleged termination” of the deal “void and unlawful” and a “dismissal of their obligations under the agreement”. Twitter is also suing Musk, accusing him of refusing to “comply with his obligations to Twitter and its shareholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”

A trial in the legal battle is scheduled for October.

Twitter declined to provide financial guidance and said it would not host a profit call due to the Musk acquisition. It added that shareholder approval is the only remaining approval or regulatory condition standing in the way of completing the merger.

At the time of publication, Twitter shares are trading at about $39 apiece, well below Musk’s original bid of $54.20 a share. The stock has fallen more than 7% so far.

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