Twitter Shares Get a Reality Check, Says Pivotal Research's Brian Wieser
*By Michael Teich*
It's "mind-boggling" that Wall Street didn't foresee the decline of Twitter's user base, said Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser.
"This has been more than telegraphed," and the "stock was widely overvalued" going into earnings, he added.
Twitter shares plunged after the company reported 335 million monthly active users, 1 million fewer than the company had in the previous quarter. Twitter attributed the decline to its efforts to clean up the platform and purge spam accounts as well as the impact of GDPR, the new European Union law on data protection and privacy.
In its shareholder letter, Twitter said it expects a third-quarter decline of "mid-single-digit millions of monthly active users."
Although Wieser has a "sell" rating on Twitter stock, he thinks there were some positives that emerged from the quarterly report. He said that investors are overvaluing the importance of monthly active users.
"Monthly active users are irrelevant commercially," he said. "Advertisers are the ones spending money, not users."
By the same token, advertisers were seemingly unfazed by the drop in MAUs. Twitter's ad revenue grew 23 percent to $601 million in the second quarter. Overall revenue of $711 million topped estimates of $696.2 million, and earnings per share were in line with expectations.
Wieser is optimistic about Twitter's efforts to kill the spam and fake accounts plaguing the platform. Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, but Twitter CFO Ned Segal said most of them were not included in the company's reported metrics.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjEyNDg=).
April's release of the monthly Housing Starts and Building Permits reports by the Census Bureau provides crucial insights into the construction activity in the housing market. These reports are an economic indicator, shedding light on the current state of the housing market and its broader economic impact.
Caitlin Clark is heading to the Indiana Fever, the number one draft pick and the highest-scoring college basketball player of all time. And while she may not be getting millions from the WNBA, there's a few ways she'll net compensation for her generational talents.
Author of 'Clean Meat,' Paul Shapiro joins Cheddar to discuss how the cellular agricultural revolution helps lower rates of foodborne illness and greatly improves environmental sustainability. Plus, how his company The Better Meat Co. is bringing healthier food options to the table.
Recent headlines might make it sound like World War III is imminent, but when it comes to your finances, it's not the time to panic. The market is coming off its longest winning streak since 2011.
You may have noticed fewer new venture capital-backed startups (like Airbnb or Uber) lately. The market slowed to a crawl after 2021, but things are expected to take off again in 2025.
Corporate earnings season is underway, that time when companies share their billions in sales or double-digit profits. But the data shows even companies are struggling with high inflation and interest rates.
Boeing continues their terrifying trend of having their planes fall apart mid-flight, inflation — checks notes — is still up and the future of AI looks terrifying. Cheery!
Food waste – uneaten scraps or leftovers sent to landfills – is responsible for 10% of global emissions. Mill, a new product from the co-founder of Nest, thinks technology can play a role in eliminating it.
By the time the 2024 election is over, be prepared to see some form of a recession – but this shouldn’t be as bad as what we experienced in 2020 or 2008.
