Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares rallied on Tuesday following a positive report from Goldman Sachs and the announcement about a new live-streaming deal with Bloomberg. Tuesday’s gains more than erased Monday’s decline, which was the result of downgrades from two firms. Interestingly, Goldman analysts praised the innovation they see going on at Twitter, although analysts from other firms have been unimpressed by the micro-blogging platform’s new products because they have yet to bear any fruit.
Praise for innovation at Twitter (TWTR)
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is scheduled to release its second quarter earnings report on July 26 after closing bell. Goldman analyst Heath Terry expects $608 million in revenue, representing a 21% year over year increase, and $155 million in adjusted EBITDA, representing a 25.5% margin. He’s looking for 308 million monthly active users, which would be a 1% year over year increase but implies a net decline of 2 million because the second quarter is usually seasonally slower. However, he adds that Euro 2016, the NBA and NHL finals, Brexit and U.S. presidential primaries might have driven user growth during the quarter.
He noted that current traffic data suggests that Twitter’s new products haven’t yet impacted its user base, but he still sees “significant value” in that user base, as well as the content and “interaction data.” He believes the value in these areas could potentially be unlocked through “product focus and a stable management team.
The micro-blogging platform released at least 17 new apps, features or other enhancements during the second quarter as it attempts to improve both the user experience and monetization. Terry notes that this means the company has reaccelerated its product and platform innovation. He believes that these new features and products, combined with the new content such as the NFL streams and USA’s Mr. Robot Premier and Periscope live video, could improve monetization and engagement.
Terry has a Buy rating and $22 per share price target on Twitter stock.
Twitter (TWTR) announces live-streaming deal with Bloomberg
Speaking of content, the micro-blogging platform announced yet another deal that should drive move value. Twitter and Bloomberg said today that they will partner to live-stream a number of the media outlet’s TV programs on Twitter. Among the shows that will be live-streamed are Bloomberg West, What’d You Miss? and With All Due Respect. Also Twitter will stream Bloomberg’s market coverage all day.
Fortune added that a source familiar with the deal between the two companies said that there will be some kind of “advertising component to the Bloomberg partnership.” This makes the partnership different than the others and is huge for Twitter because it needs all the monetization opportunities it can get.
According to Fortune’s source, brands can purchase ads that will be shown before video clips via Twitter’s Amplify platform or ads that will be shown within the live stream for live programming. The media outlet said Bloomberg and Twitter will share the ad revenue that comes from these purchases.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares climbed more than 2% to as high as $18.08 during regular trading hours on Tuesday.
