New York, Feb 12, 2026, 19:21 EST — After-hours
Twilio Inc (TWLO) dipped roughly 2% in after-hours action Thursday. The communications software outfit posted its quarterly numbers and shared its 2026 targets. Shares slipped to $107.95, down 2.2%, following a $110.41 close—just under the $110.44 seen Wednesday.
Timing is critical here. The software sector’s been rattled again as investors fret over the pace at which artificial intelligence might disrupt established models, with single-stock news setting off sharp reactions. “You’ve clearly seen that breakdown in terms of the monolithic AI trade,” said Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. Reuters
Thursday’s sharp drop weighed on sentiment, with the Nasdaq sliding over 2%. Investors held back, nervous about U.S. inflation numbers coming Friday, according to Reuters. “You still have this anti-AI trade going on,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder. Reuters
Twilio, based out of San Francisco, posted a 14% jump in fourth-quarter revenue, reaching $1.37 billion. Adjusted earnings landed at $1.33 a share. “We accelerated revenue growth, expanded operating margins, and delivered significant growth in free cash flow,” Chief Executive Khozema Shipchandler said. Business Wire
Twilio’s earnings landed above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24 a share, and revenue cleared forecasts as well, Nasdaq reported. Still, the stock has slid roughly 22.4% since January, while the S&P 500 is up 1.4%, per the same report.
Twilio’s bread and butter is its suite of communications APIs, giving businesses a way to plug messaging, email, and voice directly into their apps — no need to build telecom infrastructure themselves. Lately, it’s been pitching more tools for weaving those channels together with customer data and automation.
Twilio put out its earnings with the SEC, projecting first-quarter revenue between $1.335 billion and $1.345 billion, and adjusted earnings per share landing in the $1.21 to $1.26 range. Looking further ahead, the company is targeting 2026 reported revenue growth of 11.5% to 12.5%, with organic growth (excluding acquisitions and pass-through fees) pegged at 8% to 9%. Non-GAAP operating income and free cash flow for that year are forecast between $1.04 billion and $1.06 billion. Twilio finished the year with over 402,000 active customer accounts, and still has about $1.1 billion remaining on its original $2 billion buyback plan.
CFO Aidan Viggiano, speaking on the conference call, said the company is “continuing to plan prudently given our usage-based revenue model.” She flagged a bump in carrier pass-through fees, projecting these will drive about $190 million in extra pass-through revenue in 2026, slicing non-GAAP gross margin by around 170 basis points—1.7 percentage points. As for AT&T, its rate hikes land April 1. Viggiano added that Voice AI revenue jumped more than 60% year over year in the fourth quarter. The Motley Fool
For investors focused on margin rates rather than profit dollars, the calculations get tricky. Should pricing come under pressure or usage growth lose steam, that usage-based setup—so powerful in good times—can just as easily drag down results, fast.
The real test comes Friday, when the broader market gets to react to the guidance and any fresh details management drops on carrier fees, product mix, or underlying demand. There’s also the macro angle—another strong inflation number could stoke more rate nerves, which typically hits high-multiple software stocks first.
