What to Expect From Twitter Earnings

For some background, Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chairman of the board, is serving as the interim CEO in the wake of Dick Costolo stepping down. Dorsey will continue to serve as the CEO of Square Inc. Previously, Dorsey was served as president and CEO of Twitter from May 2007 to October 2008.

Originally the reception to the change was mixed. Some were happy to see Costolo go but analysts and investors alike did not know how to feel with Dorsey running both Twitter and Square, not to mention the questions of whether or not he would have enough time or focus to do so. This earnings report will be the official beginning of Dorsey’s reign and we will see where it goes from here, even if he plans to stay.

The company has recently taken up a new layout that is more chock-full of media. This is eerily similar to the move that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) pulled earlier. Part of the layout allows for the autoplay of videos when users are just scrolling through the feed. This has been shown to get the attention of more users and allows for more advertising and content sharing across the platform. Potentially –and this might be a long shot– Twitter could monetize this new layout but this has yet to be seen.

Shares of Twitter were down 1.4% at $34.22 on Tuesday morning. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $45.32 and a 52-week trading range of $33.51 to $55.99.

Looking at where the stock is right now, it is hovering just above its 52-week lows. So far year to date, shares are down 3.3% and down 9.1% in the last 52-weeks. It’s very possible that analysts may have taken an overly negative tone on the estimates ahead of earnings considering these lows. Needless to say it would appear that the bar is set incredibly low.