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SAN FRANCISCO — Days before Elon Musk reached a deal buy Twitter for $44 billionHe said the company “doesn’t care about its economy”. as the richest man in the world with his net worth more than $250 billionHe stated that monetizing the social media service is far from its main purpose.

But on Thursday, Mr. Musk was able to take a closer look at the strength of the business he bought.

Twitter reported that its revenue in the first three months of the year was $1.2 billion, up 16 percent from the previous year, but below the 20 percent growth rate the company had. estimated for the year. Profit was $513 million, or about 61 cents per share. Wall Street analysts were expecting revenue of about $1.2 billion.

The social media company said it has 229 million daily active users, up about 16 percent from a year ago.

The results came as Mr Musk sought to finalize the Twitter deal, which is expected to take the next three to six months. Musk, 50, who also leads electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, has pledged to take Twitter privately and make it a haven for “free speech.” In recent days, he has criticized some of Twitter’s top executives who helped formulate the company’s policies on what conversations should and should not be allowed on the platform. a commotion.

But even if Mr. Musk says Twitter isn’t interested in his business, investors will be looking into the company’s finances to see how it will affect the deal. Investors will look at Twitter’s specific earnings metric (commonly used EBITDA for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or cash flow) and gauge whether the company can pay Mr. Musk’s deal will be added to his balance sheet.

Here’s how Mr Musk funds his Twitter acquisition: 13 billion dollars debt financing and other $12.5 billion On loans against his stake in Tesla. About to add. 21 billion dollars in equity financing.

Twitter executives have faced questions over the years about the prospects for the company’s business, which relies primarily on digital advertising. This work was inconsistent. Twitter hasn’t made a profit in eight of the last 10 years. In 2020, activist investment firm Elliott Management took a stake on Twitter and urged co-founder Jack Dorsey to step down from his CEO position. Mr Dorsey resigned last year.

“While Twitter is experiencing a rebound in ad growth, its ad business is significantly smaller than that of other major digital players,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Engberg. “It also continues to have trouble bringing in new users, which is an integral part of increased ad revenue.”

Before Mr. Musk got involved, Twitter’s executives set an aggressive trajectory for the company. The plan is to grow rapidly over the next two years to reach 315 million daily active users and $7.5 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2023.

The acquisition of Mr. Musk could give Twitter the ability to make changes to its product as a private company, avoiding Wall Street’s scrutiny. Close observers of the company have long noted that Twitter has been hesitant to overhaul its service due to user protests and advertisers’ sensitivity to drastic changes.

But Mr. Musk could also plunge the company into more turmoil. Except that Mr. Musk targeted Twitter’s admin through the service, some users left the platform On the possibility of a Musk-led Twitter. Within the company, some employees also expressed their concerns. What changes are in Mr. Musk’s warehouse? for service.

At a company meeting on Monday, Mr. Agrawal acknowledged the uncertainty ahead. “We don’t know which direction this company will go when the deal is closed,” he told Twitter employees.

Anupréeta Das contributing reporting.