Netchoice Vice President and General Counsel Carl Szabo discusses the judge’s decision on when the trial between Elon Musk and Twitter will commence on ‘Fox Business Tonight.’
Elon Musk fired back at Twitter on Friday after the social media giant partially blamed its second-quarter revenue miss on uncertainty surrounding the Tesla chief executive’s pending $44 billion acquisition.
“I’m rubber, they’re glue,” Musk tweeted.
The social media giant reported total revenue of $1.18 billion for the second quarter, including advertising revenue of $1.08 billion and subscription and other revenue of $101 million. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting total revenue of $1.32 billion.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | TWITTER INC. | 39.98 | +0.41 | +1.02% |
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 associated with the macroenvironment.”
TWITTER MISSES ON EARNINGS, CITES ELON MUSK ACQUISITION ‘UNCERTAINTY’ AS QUARTERLY REVENUE HEADWIND
Earlier this month, Musk announced he would be terminating the deal, claiming Twitter is “in material breach of multiple provisions” of the agreement and “appears to have made false and misleading representations” when it accepted Musk’s acquisition offer on April 25. Musk has disputed Twitter’s internal estimates that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of its users.
In response to Musk and his team’s accusations, Twitter called the “purported termination” of the deal “invalid and wrongful” and a “repudiation of their obligations under the agreement.” Twitter is also suing Musk, accusing him of refusing to “honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”
A trial in the legal battle is slated for October.
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Twitter declined to provide financial guidance and said it would not be hosting an earnings call due to Musk’s acquisition. It added that shareholder approval is the only remaining approval or regulatory condition standing in the way of completing the merger.
As of the time of publication, Twitter shares are trading around $39 apiece, well below Musk’s original offer of $54.20 per share. The stock is down more than 7% year to date.