Twitter’s stock price (NYSE: TWTR) spiked more than 4% in early trading Monday after a bullish report from Citron Research – a firm most known for its bearish calls against stocks – predicted the microblogging service will hit $52 per share within 12 months, or 62% higher from the company’s $32.01 closing price on Friday.
“While many view Twitter solely as the preferred form of communication for the POTUS, it has become all things media and an irreplaceable part of the global dialogue,” Citron Research wrote in a note Monday. “This past week, Elon Musk announced the potential for the largest LBO ever on Twitter, and while people were debating the quality of the financing, no one was debating the medium of the news – Twitter. No press release or Wall St. Journal article, just Twitter.”
“While TWTR is commonly bucketed with FB and SNAP, Citron believes TWTR actually sits alone, with no direct competitor in the exchange of thoughts,” the firm wrote.
Citron also compared the upside of Twitter to Toutiao, China’s largest mobile-based news and content platform which according to the report should raise the perceived value of Twitter. Toutiao is reportedly considering a Hang Seng IPO that may value it at over $45 billion.
Toutiao’s “success has largely been attributed to the platform’s ability to deliver personalized content via a simple user interface, something [Twitter CEO] Jack [Dorsey] and his Twitter team has been very focused on,” Citron said. The firm also argued that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL) “have many more privacy concerns” than Twitter.
As of writing, Twitter stock is up 36 cents, or 1.08%, in pre-market hours trading Tuesday. It closed up 79 cents, or 2.47%, to $32.80 during the regular session.
TWTR is up 34% year-to-date and 108% year-over-year.
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