By Senad Karaahmetovic
An Argus analyst cut the rating on Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) to Hold from Buy in response to weak Q3 guidance that the company offered last week.
The outlook implies a top-line growth of 31%, which compares to the revenue growth of over 60% in 2021.
“With tough comps ahead, the forward growth outlook is likely to continue to move lower,” the analyst told clients in a note.
The analyst also took note of signs that imply slowing growth among existing customers.
“At this point, we believe it prudent to downgrade the stock to HOLD until the company's revenue growth and operating loss prospects come into clearer focus,” the analyst added.
The new stock rating for Twilio also corresponds to other social media stocks, including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), and Snap (NYSE:SNAP), which are Hold-rated by Argus.
“The combination of changes to Apple's privacy policy on iOS devices and the potential for additional weakness in consumer discretionary spending in an inflationary environment all argue for caution regarding the pace of growth in social media digital advertising. Twilio would be impacted if its clients in the online space were forced to reduce spending on Twilio's solutions set because their own revenues were weakening,” the analyst also said.
Argus still has a long-term Buy rating on Twilio.