Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) has been the subject of much controversy, not just among its users tweeting, but how it should run its business. It seems after this earnings report that things are starting to fall into place, at least for now. Although analysts are still on the sideline about this stock, they universally hiked their targets in response to this report.
When the social media giant released its most recent quarterly results Thursday before the markets opened, Twitter reported $0.10 in earnings per share (EPS) and $590 million in revenue. That beat out consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.07 in EPS on revenue of $586.73 million. The third quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.09 and $615.93 million in revenue.
During the quarter, average monthly active users (MAU) totaled 330 million for the quarter, up about 4% from last year, and compared to 326 million in the previous quarter. Average daily active users (DAU) grew 14%, an increase from 12% growth year over year, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
Twitter also announced an adjustment to its MAU numbers over the past year. The adjustment was at most roughly 2 million downward for a single quarter. Although it’s important that Twitter’s metrics for counting its users wasn’t correct, the overall difference is relatively marginal and investors seemed more thrilled that Twitter actually posted solid earnings.
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Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Twitter expects to see adjusted EBITDA in the range of $220 million and $240 million, adjusted EBITDA margin of 35% and 36% and capital expenditures of no more than $110 million. Analysts are calling for $0.10 in EPS and $692.18 million in revenue.
Following the report here’s what a few analysts had this to say about Twitter:
- Wells Fargo reiterated a Hold rating but raised its price target to $19 from $16.
- SunTrust Banks reiterated a Hold rating and raised its target to $18 from $16.
- Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $26 price target.
- Robert Baird has a Neutral rating and a $20 price target.
- Susquehanna has a Neutral rating but raised its price target to $20 from $27.
- Stifel upgraded Twitter to Hold from Sell and raised its target to $17 from $12.
- Pivotal Research has a Hold rating but raised its price target to $19 from $17.
Shares of Twitter were last seen up over 5% at $21.46, with a consensus analyst price target of $17.27 and a 52-week range of $14.12 to $21.48.
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