The deep dive · NYSE: TWLO · Read November 1, 2026

Twilio

The plumbing behind the texts, calls and emails that companies send. Profitable now, growing about 20% again, and rebuilding itself as the phone line for AI agents.

Q3 2026 earnings release
Since you opened this page
Twilio's revenue at its last-quarter pace of $196 a second.
Revenue
$4.47B in the nine months to Sept 2026, up 21%.
Profit
+$341M operating profit in nine months, more than triple a year ago.
Debt
$1.0B two fixed-rate notes, against $2.89B of cash and securities.
Watch
$937M of 2026 profit is a one-time tax entry, not cash.
AI
Agent rails voice AI, an open-source agent connector, and agent identity via Stytch.
Hiring
5,625 staff in Sept 2026, against 5,587 at the end of 2025.
Listings
144 → 131 remote listings since Oct 10.
01 · The business

Mostly text messages.

Twilio sells the pipes companies use to reach customers. Text messaging is more than half of revenue. Voice, email and Segment, its customer data tool, make up most of the rest. About three quarters is billed by usage, not by subscription.

57%
Messaging, $2.88B
12%
Voice, $616M
10%
Email, $524M
6%
Segment (customer data), $303M
15%
Other, $747M
10-K FY2025, revenue by product group
The moat, in three parts
  1. 1
    A huge customer base with no giant to lose
    Over 402,000 active customer accounts. The 10 largest made only 9% of 2025 revenue, and none is over 10%.
    10-K FY2025
  2. 2
    Where developers and coding agents start
    Its MCP server lets AI coding tools search over 1,800 API endpoints across 30+ products.
    Twilio docs, checked Oct 31, 2026
  3. 3
    Channels plus customer memory in one place
    Segment's customer data now feeds Conversation Memory, generally available since May 2026, across voice, text and email.
    Twilio, May 6, 2026
The competition
TradingView, Oct 30 close
CompanyWorthRevenueGrowthPer employeePaid per $1Stock, 1 yr
Twilio$31.5B$5.83B+19%$1.04M$5.69+85%
Bandwidth$1.52B$870M+15%$0.79M$2.18+188%
Sinch$31.3B$26.8B−6%$6.63M$1.15+33%
RingCentral$6.88B$2.62B+6%$0.36M$2.72+176%
Five9$2.72B$1.20B+9%$0.41M$2.58+58%
  • Twilio
    Worth
    $31.5B
    Revenue
    $5.83B
    Growth
    +19%
    Per employee
    $1.04M
    Paid per $1
    $5.69
    Stock, 1 yr
    +85%
  • Bandwidth
    Worth
    $1.52B
    Revenue
    $870M
    Growth
    +15%
    Per employee
    $0.79M
    Paid per $1
    $2.18
    Stock, 1 yr
    +188%
  • Sinch
    Worth
    $31.3B
    Revenue
    $26.8B
    Growth
    −6%
    Per employee
    $6.63M
    Paid per $1
    $1.15
    Stock, 1 yr
    +33%
  • RingCentral
    Worth
    $6.88B
    Revenue
    $2.62B
    Growth
    +6%
    Per employee
    $0.36M
    Paid per $1
    $2.72
    Stock, 1 yr
    +176%
  • Five9
    Worth
    $2.72B
    Revenue
    $1.20B
    Growth
    +9%
    Per employee
    $0.41M
    Paid per $1
    $2.58
    Stock, 1 yr
    +58%

Investors pay $5.69 for every dollar Twilio brings in. Its peers here range from $1.15 to $2.72, about 2.4 times their median of $2.38.

Twilio, TradingViewBandwidth, TradingViewSinch, TradingViewRingCentral, TradingViewFive9, TradingView
02 · The money · July to September 2026, its latest reported quarter

Twilio brought in $1.6 billion in 92 days.

+$259M
on the same 92 days a year earlier
$17M
a day, every day of the quarter
$706K
an hour, around the clock
$11,772
a minute

That is about $259 million more than the same three months a year earlier. Each of its 5,625 employees brought in about $0.90 million over the year, about $2,470 a day.

Revenue is not profit. It is the money that came in before Twilio pays any of its costs.

10-Q Q3 2026; employees from Q3 release
02 · The turn

From losing $54 million to making $158 million.

Revenue grew 22% in two years. In FY2025 it kept 3 cents of every revenue dollar as operating profit.

Revenue
Money coming in, per fiscal year
Operating profit
What is left after running the business
  • FY2023: lost 21¢ of every $1
  • FY2024: lost 1¢ of every $1
  • FY2025: kept 3¢ of every $1
10-K FY2025, statement of operations
Revenue per employee

Sinch brings in more per person than Twilio; Bandwidth, RingCentral and Five9 less.

  1. Sinch$6.63M
  2. Twilio$1.04M
  3. Bandwidth$0.79M
  4. Five9$0.41M
  5. RingCentral$0.36M
$0.0M$7.0M
Trailing revenue divided by employees, from the same market read as the table above.
The balance sheet

Twilio owes $1B in two plain bonds, due 2029 and 2031, with no stock conversion feature. It holds $2.89B in cash and short-term securities. Debt is not the risk here.

$1.0Bof debt, covered almost three times by cash
$500M
3.625% notes due 2029
$500M
3.875% notes due 2031
10-Q Q3 2026, long-term debt note
03 · Footnote flags

What the filings say, and what we think it means.

The fact is the filing's. The read, in italics, is ours.

  1. 01
    Good

    Most of 2026's $1.3 billion profit is a tax entry.

    Nine-month net income was $1.32B on $317M of pretax profit. In Q2 2026 Twilio released $937.1M of a tax valuation allowance, citing three years of US profits. A $521.1M allowance remains.

    The release says management now expects to use old US losses and credits. It is confidence, not cash. Any P/E on 2026 earnings overstates the business.

    10-Q Q3 2026, income taxes note
  2. 02
    Good

    From a $877 million operating loss to steady profit in two years.

    Operating income went from minus $876.5M in 2023 to minus $53.7M in 2024 and plus $157.8M in 2025. It was $340.8M in the first nine months of 2026.

    The 2023 number carried $166M of restructuring and $321M of impairments. The cleanup is done, and profits now come from the core business.

    10-K FY2025, statement of operations
  3. 03
    Watch

    Part of the growth is carrier fees passed straight through.

    Q3 revenue grew 20%, but 16% organic. The gap includes $53.1M of US carrier messaging (A2P) fees that Twilio bills to customers at cost.

    These fees lift revenue but not profit. Management said in April they cut gross margin by about 2 points. Judge growth by the organic number.

    Q3 2026 earnings release
  4. 04
    Watch

    A $750 million bet on Syniverse keeps losing value.

    Twilio paid $750M for 44.6% of Syniverse in 2022. It wrote off $80.6M in 2025, and its share of losses was $77.1M in nine months of 2026. Carrying value fell to $225.2M. Twilio's payments to Syniverse fell from $35.6M to $1.3M a quarter.

    The investment is a slow drag on reported profit. The drop in payments suggests Twilio is routing less traffic through Syniverse, though the filing does not say why.

    10-Q Q3 2026, related party note
  5. 05
    Watch

    Two network suppliers ran into trouble.

    Twilio wrote off $32.8M of prepaid network services in 2026, citing operational and financial challenges at two network service providers.

    Twilio relies on carriers and middlemen to deliver messages. One-off for now, but a sign of strain among the suppliers it depends on.

    10-Q Q3 2026
  6. 06
    Watch

    Spending commitments almost quadrupled this year.

    Non-cancelable purchase commitments rose to $1.3B at Sept 30, 2026, from $349.2M at the end of 2025. They cover cloud, network and other vendors, for up to four years. AWS hosts most of its cloud.

    A big multi-year commitment usually means Twilio expects more traffic. It also locks in costs if volumes disappoint.

    10-Q Q3 2026, commitments note
  7. 07
    Watch

    Stock pay is $600 million a year, and a quarter of votes went against more of it.

    Stock-based pay was $600.4M in 2025, about 12% of revenue. In June 2026, 30.3M shares voted against amending the stock plan, versus 88.9M for.

    Equity is a real part of pay here. The vote shows some holders worry about dilution, though the plan passed.

    8-K, Jun 17, 2026
  8. 08
    Neutral

    Big buybacks, but the share count still crept up.

    Twilio bought $854.6M of stock in 2025 and $446.7M in nine months of 2026. About $698.7M is left on a $2.0B program that ends Dec 31, 2027. Shares went from 152.4M at year end to 154.7M in Oct 2026.

    Buybacks are mostly soaking up new employee shares rather than shrinking the company. Good for holders' stakes, not a big boost per share.

    10-Q Q3 2026, stockholders' equity note
  9. 09
    Good

    No customer is big enough to hurt.

    No customer passed 10% of revenue or receivables. The 10 largest accounts made 9% of 2025 revenue. Over 402,000 active accounts.

    Rare for a company this size. Losing any single client would barely show.

    10-K FY2025
  10. 10
    Neutral

    A Workday sales chief joined the board to rework selling.

    On Mar 24, 2026 Twilio added Doug Robinson, former Workday co-president who ran global go-to-market, as the CEO talked of transforming its sales organization.

    Expect changes in how Twilio sells to large companies. Sales roles may shift, though no cuts were announced.

    8-K, Mar 24, 2026
04 · Who gets paid most

Product is paid 3% over market. Sales, 8% under.

Still Remote data, daily since Oct 10
Posted pay against the same level at other remote employers
Compared level by level against 400+ remote employers, then averaged. Number of posted ranges beside each team.
AI and ML listings, Oct 10 to Oct 31
7 → 7about the same
Remote listings, same days
144 → 131−9%

We save every company's roles, pay by team and level, AI share and churn every day, so each month this page can say more. Sparklines use their own scale.

05 · Built for the agentic era?

Can AI agents do business with Twilio?

We checked the agent payment programs, developer docs and site rules an AI assistant would meet.

Our verdict

Built for agents to build on. Its MCP server only reads docs, so far.

Still Remote read
LiveAnnounced, not confirmed live
  1. An MCP server for AI tools
    Public beta. Lets coding agents search 1,800+ API endpoints and docs. No login needed. It does not send messages or make calls.
    Twilio docs, checked Oct 31, 2026
    Yes
  2. Agents that can act, not just read
    Twilio lists sign-in based tools that execute API calls as planned. Not live yet.
    Twilio docs, checked Oct 31, 2026
    Announced
  3. Agents can open an account and pay
    Launch partner of Stripe Projects: a coding agent can provision Twilio Email and get API keys in one step. US and email only for now.
    Twilio blog, Apr 29, 2026
    Yes
  4. Plugging outside AI agents into calls and texts
    Agent Connect, generally available since May 2026, is open source and works with any model.
    Twilio, May 6, 2026
    Yes
  5. Identity for AI agents
    Bought Stytch, an identity platform for AI agents, in Nov 2025. Plans to tell humans, trusted agents and rogue agents apart.
    Twilio blog, Nov 14, 2025
    Announced
  6. Docs that AI tools can read
    Both twilio.com/llms.txt and twilio.com/docs/llms.txt publish indexes, the docs one including an AI section.
    checked Oct 31, 2026
    Yes
  7. Lets AI crawlers read its site
    No AI bot blocked by name. A content signal says no AI training, but search and AI answers are allowed.
    checked Oct 31, 2026
    Yes
05 · Inside the company

Where Twilio puts AI to work.

AI and ML job titles, share of open remote listings
Twilio
5.3%
Every company we track
6.2%
7 of 131 Twilio listings on Oct 31. Scale 0% to 10%.
  1. 1
    An AI assistant inside its own console
    The rebuilt Twilio Console, launched in May 2026, has an integrated AI assistant to help customers build.
    Twilio, May 6, 2026
  2. 2
    AI agents answer support questions
    The 10-K describes AI agents for customer support, including a Help Center Assistant.
    10-K FY2025
  3. 3
    Headcount held flat, no AI layoffs announced
    Management said in April 2026 headcount has been roughly flat for two to three years and should stay so. Staff: 5,587 at end of 2025, 5,625 in Sept 2026.
    Q1 2026 earnings call, transcript
06 · What the hiring says

Fewer listings than on Sep 7, led by sales.

Remote listings on its board, dailyAxis starts at zero
Listings as the board shows them, so a title posted in several places counts each time. Team counts are open roles, repeated titles once.
53 of 113
roles are sales
20
engineering roles, the next biggest team
8
countries named in its remote roles, led by United States
+14
new roles in the last 7 days
06 · From its own channel

What Twilio puts on its own channel.

Short videos from Twilio's official YouTube channel, played here. We only use a channel that links twilio.com and carries the company's name.

  • If you want to be a dev, learn this first #career #coding #programming
    68 views
  • I turned my house into a monster. #halloween #tech #shorts
    124 views
  • This phone booth lets you call an AI Agent
    106 views
  • The Secret Foundation of Every Website You Visit #webdev #programming #html #css
    987 views
  • When your AI meeting assistant starts roasting you 💀 #ai #developerhumor #techfail
    573 views
  • I used tailscale to control my home lab by voice
    860 views
  • Inside Twilio Assemble SF #twilio #devlife #tech
    276 views
  • The 1.5 second rule for AI voice #ai #development #coding
    1 thousand views
From TwilioDevs on YouTube. These are the company's own marketing, not a look inside.
07 · Scenario builder

Your view of the next year, in a share price.

A way to think, not a forecast, and not investment advice.

A share price is three numbers
$5.07Brevenue last year
×
$6.21what investors pay per $1 of it
=
$31.5Bthe whole company
÷ 154Mshares it is split into
= $205.03one share
Growth
How much bigger revenue gets in a year. More revenue to multiply.
Paid per $1 of revenue
The mood dial. High when investors expect fast growth and future profit, low when they doubt it. Twilio sits at $6.21; the peers' median is $2.38.
Share count
Stock pay and converting notes add shares, so each is a smaller slice. Buybacks do the opposite. Last year Twilio's share count changed −0.1%.
The analyst range
34 analysts publish a 12-month target, from $165 to $325. It is where Wall Street sits, not where the stock must go.
Pick a world

Growth and valuation hold, and the share count keeps rising at last year's rate. This lands below the analysts' average of $269.

Last year +13.7%.
No 2027 guidance yet. For 2026: about 20% revenue growth (15% organic), $1.19B to $1.20B non-GAAP operating income; Q4 revenue $1.59B to $1.60B.
Today $6.21. Bandwidth $2.18 · Sinch $1.15 · RingCentral $2.72 · Five9 $2.58.
Last year −0.1%. $2.0B program from Jan 2025, about $698.7M left, ends Dec 31, 2027. Bought $854.6M in 2025 and $446.7M in nine months of 2026.
$
A year from now, in your world
$233
+14% vs $205.03 today
Your grant, one year from now
$113,741

Your $100,000 grant today would be worth $113,741 in 12 months in this world, before taxes and vesting.

$5.76B revenue × $6.21 = $35.8B ÷ 153M shares
Against the 34 analysts
Today $205
Low $165
Avg $269
High $325
$0Band: low $165 to high $325$358
Revenue if this growth holds
Dotted: last year's pace, +14% a year. Bars start at zero.

A way to think, not a forecast, and not investment advice.

Q3 2026 earnings release; share count from 10-K FY2025
08 · Where it looks headed

The signals, and which way they push.

  1. Tailwind
    Voice is speeding up, thanks to AI.

    Voice revenue grew 20% in Q1 2026, the fastest in 19 quarters and the sixth straight quarter of acceleration. Management credits AI use cases.

    Q1 2026 earnings call, transcripthigh
  2. Tailwind
    Raised its outlook three times this year.

    2026 revenue growth guidance went from 11.5% to 12.5% in Feb, to 14% to 15%, to 18% to 18.5%, to about 20% in Oct.

    Q4 2025 and Q3 2026 releaseshigh
  3. Tailwind
    AI startups are becoming customers.

    New partners and customers named in April included Sierra and Bland.ai. Twilio is a launch partner for Stripe's agent provisioning tool.

    Q1 2026 call; Twilio blogmedium
  4. Headwind
    Carrier fees squeeze margins.

    Twilio expects about $235M of carrier pass-through fees in 2026, cutting gross margin about 2 points. Q3 alone had $53.1M of these fees.

    Q1 2026 call; Q3 2026 releasehigh
  5. Headwind
    Strain among network partners.

    An $80.6M Syniverse write-down in 2025, then $32.8M lost on prepaid services from two network providers in 2026.

    10-Q Q3 2026; 10-K FY2025medium
09 · Bold predictions

Where Twilio ends up, if we had to bet.

Our calls, not facts. Each one is tied to something that already happened, so you can judge the reasoning.

  1. 1

    AI agents, not people, are on the other end of most Twilio voice calls.

    Coin flip 50%AI

    Voice is accelerating on AI use cases, and Agent Connect plugs any AI model into Twilio's lines. But regulated industries are adopting slowly, and Twilio reports no AI share of traffic.

    Q1 2026 call; Twilio, May 2026
  2. 2

    Twilio buys more pieces of the AI agent stack.

    Likely 72%M&A

    It bought Stytch, an identity platform for AI agents, for $104.1M in Nov 2025. With $2.89B of cash and securities against $1B of debt, it can afford bigger deals.

    10-K FY2025, business combinations note
  3. 3

    Software on top of the pipes, not messages, drives most of Twilio's profit growth.

    Coin flip 50%Products

    Messaging was $2.88B of $5.07B revenue in 2025. Add-ons like branded calling and conversation intelligence grew over 100% in Q1 2026, from a small base.

    10-K FY2025; Q1 2026 call
  4. 4

    US carriers keep raising messaging fees, and Twilio keeps passing them on.

    Likely 72%Regulation

    A2P fees added $49.5M of revenue in 2025 and $53.1M in Q3 2026 alone. Twilio bills them at cost, so they hit margins, not profit dollars.

    Q4 2025 and Q3 2026 releases
  5. 5

    Twilio is bought or taken private.

    Long shot 16%Competition

    No bid has been reported, and Twilio is buying back its own stock with $698.7M left on its program. At about 20% growth and rising profit, it looks like a buyer, not a seller.

    10-Q Q3 2026

Read by the Still Remote research agent on November 1, 2026 from the sources linked on this page. Facts and scenarios only, not investment advice.