Quick Facts
- Twilio reported Q2 revenue of $1.5 billion, up 22% year over year, beating analyst estimates of $1.43 billion.
- The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth outlook to 18%-18.5%, up from a prior forecast of 14%-15%.
- Shares jumped more than 16% in after-hours trading to $225.40 after the results were released August 6.
Twilio Inc. posted a strong second quarter, beating Wall Street targets on both earnings and revenue and sending its stock sharply higher. The San Francisco-based communications software company reported revenue of $1.5 billion for Q2 2026, a 22% increase from the same period a year ago and ahead of analyst estimates of $1.43 billion.
Earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation came in at $1.47 per share, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32. Adjusted operating income reached $284.6 million, beating the $261.7 million target by 8.8% and representing a 19% margin.
Chief Financial Officer Aidan Viggiano called out the company’s profit trajectory in the earnings release. “We delivered record non-GAAP gross profit of $736 million, with growth accelerating to 18% year-over-year, our 5th consecutive quarter of accelerating non-GAAP gross profit growth,” he said.
Net revenue retention hit 116% in Q2, up from the prior quarter. That figure means Twilio would have grown revenue by 16% even without adding a single new customer over the past 12 months.
Guidance Lifted
For Q3 2026, Twilio forecast earnings of $1.42 to $1.47 per share on revenue of $1.505 billion to $1.515 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.40 per share on revenue of $1.46 billion.
The company also raised its full-year revenue growth outlook to 18%-18.5%, up from 14%-15% previously. Full-year non-GAAP operating income guidance rose to $1.135 billion to $1.155 billion, from a prior range of $1.08 billion to $1.1 billion.
Voice AI Drives Organic Growth
Organic growth accelerated to 17% in the quarter, fueled by messaging, voice, software add-ons, and AI-related demand. Multi-product customer count grew 29%, as customers consolidate communications tools onto Twilio’s platform.
At its annual SIGNAL developer conference in May, Twilio unveiled Voice AI, a product that lets companies build telephone systems capable of understanding and responding to callers without human oversight. CEO Khozema Shipchandler told analysts on the earnings call that the product has seen strong early traction.
Voice revenue grew 20% year over year in Q1 2026, the highest rate in 19 quarters, driven by AI use cases and rapid adoption of add-ons including Conversational Intelligence and Branded Calling, both of which grew more than 100% year over year. Shipchandler said Q2 continued that momentum.
Shipchandler framed the company’s AI approach around neutrality. “We are going to stick to our positioning as being kind of the Switzerland of it all,” he told analysts, noting Twilio’s ability to connect with multiple model providers, data warehouses, and cloud platforms.
Analyst View
IDC Research Vice President Arnal Dayaratna offered a long-range forecast in commentary tied to the earnings. “By 2029, IDC projects that Twilio can become the underlying infrastructure for 80 million to 100 million agents,” he said, pointing to the company’s potential to shift from programmable communications tools into a state management layer for AI-driven agents.
The stock’s after-hours move to $225.40 brings Twilio closer to its 52-week high of $238.48. Shares are up nearly 68% over the past six months and 36% year-to-date. The result marks a sharp reversal from a year ago, when Twilio fell roughly 18% after its Q2 2025 report despite beating estimates, as that update showed weaker forward progress.
Read more: Twilio’s stock jumps on solid earnings and revenue beat and strong momentum in voice AI