Twilio announces layoff shortly after activist investor took stake

Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO) just announced plans of cutting another 5.0% of its workforce in pursuit of profitable growth. Its shares are roughly flat at writing.

Twilio layoff to affect Data and Applications staff

The layoff will affect roughly 300 of its employees – most of them in Data and Applications.

It’s the same unit that Anson Funds (activist investor) recently urged the board to divest. Jeff Lawson – the Chief Executive of Twilio Inc also said today in a letter attached to a regulatory filing:

The New York listed firm had spent $3.2 billion to acquire Segment in 2020. $TWLO has gained over 30% in about five weeks.

Twilio reiterates its guidance for the full year

Twilio expects up to $35 million worth of charges related to the restructuring. Still, the cloud company reiterated its guidance for the full year on Monday.

The job cut announced today will remove “many Flex GTM roles” and consolidate related responsibilities into Communications, as per CEO Lawson. Remember that Twilio has been lowering its headcount since last year.

Twilio has decided to end its Programmable Video as a standalone product as well. Last month, the San Francisco-headquartered firm reported its financial results for the third quarter that topped Street estimates.

Wall Street currently has a consensus “overweight” rating on $TWLO. Also on Monday, Spotify Technology announced plans of lowering its global headcount by 17% as well (find out more).