Twilio shares rise as it forecasts more quarterly revenue than expected

Shares of cloud communications company Twilio rose as much as 10% in extended trading on Thursday after the company said in a filing that it expects more third-quarter revenue than the $401 million to $406 million range it had provided in August.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected $407.9 million in revenue for the third quarter. The range had implied 36% to 38% growth, which would be down from 46% in the second quarter.

Many cloud companies have seen gains this year as schools and companies have had to rely on the online software to keep people connected during coronavirus quarantines. The day after Twilio reported its first-quarter results, including some impact from the virus, the company’s shares rose nearly 40%.

Twilio began its annual investor day as a webcast at market close on Thursday. During the investor day presentation Twilio said it expects at least 30% organic annual revenue growth in each of the next four years and a 60% to 65% adjusted gross margin over the long term. The company has not announced a date for the release of its third-quarter earnings report.

Since the start of 2020, Twilio shares have risen 161%, while the S&P 500 has climbed less than 5%.

Last week Microsoft announced new communication services that will represent fresh competition for Twilio.

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