Twitter boosted after Citron sets $52 target price
Twitter’s shares were given a boost on Monday after online investment newsletter Citron Research predicted that the social media giant’s shares will hit $52 within a year.
Twitter Inc
$53.70
11:00 08/03/24
Citron, an activist investment firm run by Andrew Left, said the social media company “is more relevant now than it has ever been and in media – dollars follow relevancy”, pointing to President Donald Trump's announcing policy via the platform and Tesla using it to disseminate a take-private proposal last week.
“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. 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,” Citron said in a newsletter to subscribers.
Twitter’s potential is easier to view through the lense of the success of Beijing-based AI-assisted news and information platform Toutiao, argued Citron.
The success of Toutiao, which is a subsidiary of the second largest private company in the world, Bytedance, has largely been attributed to the platform’s ability to deliver personalized content via a simple user interface.
As such, Citron said the social media operators’ renewed focus on news headlines and breaking fresh news will make it “completely irreplaceable”.
Phillippe Laffont, fund manager of Twitter’s largest hedge fund shareholder Coatue, said: “We believe Twitter can transform its product experience by adopting the Toutiao playbook, attracting new users with a simpler product and increasing engagement of its existing base.”
Twitter’s shares finished up 2.5% at $32.8 overnight.