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Twitter (TWTR) is scheduled to report results of its first fiscal quarter before the market open on Thursday, April 28. In light of the pending transaction with Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, the company will not hold a corresponding conference call. What to watch:

USER METRICS: Twitter's monetizable daily active usage, or mDAU, is a closely watched measure of its popularity and growth potential. Last quarter, the company reported global monetizable daily active usage increased 3% sequentially to 217M and 13% year-over-year, while the company's U.S. base rose 2% sequentially to 38M, an increase of 2% year-over-year. “Twitter had a solid fourth quarter to finish 2021, with over $5B in annual revenue, up 37% for the year,” said CFO Ned Segal, at the time. “There are no changes to our goals of 315M average mDAU in Q4 2023 and $7.5B or more revenue in 2023. Our increased focus on performance ads and the SMB opportunity after the sale of MoPub positions us even better for 2022 and beyond.”

AD REVENUE: In Q4, the company reported advertising revenue of $1.41B, up 22% year-over-year. The company also reported total ad engagements dropped 12% year-over-year and cost per engagement increased 39% year-over-year. “Our strong 2021 performance positions us to improve execution and deliver on our 2023 goals," said CEO Parag Agrawal, at the time. "We are more focused and better organized to deliver improved personalization and selection for our audience, partners, and advertisers."

GUIDANCE: Along with Q4 earnings, Twitter guided to Q1 revenue between $1.17B and $1.27B and GAAP operating loss to be between $225M and $175M. Revenue consensus which was $1.26B at the time has dropped to $1.22B.

MUSK ACQUISITION: In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a 9.2% passive stake in Twitter and was briefly given a seat on the company’s board before deciding not to join. Musk then offered to purchase the company for $54.20 per share in cash in April, saying Twitter “needs to be transformed into a private company.” The move led Twitter to adopt a “poison pill” limited duration shareholder rights plan and Musk announced he was exploring the commencement of a tender offer to acquire the company. Twitter announced April 25 that it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44B. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.

MOPUB SALE: Twitter announced in October that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell MoPub to AppLovin (APP) for $1.05B in cash. Twitter said at the time, “The transaction will enable Twitter to accelerate the development of owned and operated revenue products and drive growth across key areas for the service including performance-based advertising, small and medium-sized business offerings, and commerce initiatives.” In 2020, MoPub generated approximately $188M in annual revenue, which was reported in Data Licensing and Other. In January, Twitter announced the completion of the sale.

FEATURES, INITIATIVES, PARTNERSHIPS: In January, Twitter announced it was testing Tweet reaction videos on iOS and also made a minority investment in Aleph Group, an enabler of digital advertising. The company also launched Spaces recording for iOS and Android devices during the month as well as NFT profile pictures on iOS. In February, Twitter joined a $20M funding round for bitcoin payments provider OpenNode and also announced a new $4B share repurchase program, which included an accelerated $2B share repurchase. In March, the social media site launched a beta experiment for Twitter Shops and switched the site’s timeline back to enable users to see the latest tweets first.