Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      What Steve Jobs feared is now the tech industry’s reality

      9 July 2025

      Cape Town fintech Stitch in another blockbuster acquisition

      9 July 2025

      Apple is said to be eyeing Formula 1 broadcast rights

      9 July 2025

      Vodacom, Maziv deal now looks likely after CompCom U-turn

      8 July 2025

      Icasa publishes new draft regulations for digital TV

      8 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Top » Investors are giving up on Twitter

    Investors are giving up on Twitter

    By Agency Staff12 February 2017
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Wall Street is running out of bad Twitter one-liners: “Bye-bye birdie” was the headline on Susquehanna International’s recap of Twitter earnings. Twitter “can’t fly with broken wings”, UBS wrote.

    The stock analysts who track Twitter grabbed for their bird puns after the company’s stinker fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday, which spurred them to slash their estimates for revenue and share performance.

    After the earnings report, just five out of 41 stock analysts who follow Twitter now recommend investors buy the company’s shares. The 12,2% share of buy ratings is the lowest among more than 50 US-listed technology companies with market values of US$10bn or more, Bloomberg data shows. (Twitter just edges out business-software firm CA, which 12,5% of analysts rate as a buy.)

    The average of analysts’ 12-month price targets for Twitter, at $14,68, is below the company’s current share price and has been so for most of the last six or seven months. That indicates sentiment that shares have further to fall. When analysts start to throw in the towel on a company, that is not a good sign. (On the other hand, these stock analysts get it wrong. A lot.)

    Their loss of faith is understandable. Twitter’s revenue is stuck, and that is the worst possible condition for a technology company. It’s not likely to get better soon, either. Based on the forecast Twitter gave for the first quarter, the company’s revenue could decline by 9-26% from the first quarter of 2016. It will be the first revenue decline since the company went public more than three years ago.

    Twitter’s powerful chief operating officer, Anthony Noto, declined to address an analyst’s question Thursday about whether the company’s revenue would increase at all for the full year. On average, the stock analysts who track Twitter now estimate revenue will decline slightly in 2017, according to Bloomberg data.

    Twitter’s biggest problem being reflected in analysts’ stock targets is the loss of faith among advertisers. Even Twitter executives said advertisers were choosing to spend their money elsewhere as rivals like Facebook and young Snapchat have become more compelling places to pitch their new cars or soda. Restoring advertiser confidence won’t be quick or easy.

    Noto acknowledged that big advertisers reassess their spending once every six months to a year. Twitter hopes the next time they look at their budgets, the company’s mildly growing audience will seem like a compelling place to market their goods. If it doesn’t work, stock analysts will need to reach even deeper for their corny Twitter puns.  — (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP



    Anthony Noto Facebook Snapchat Twitter
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleFord pumps $1bn into AI
    Next Article Liquid Telecom talks up possible listing

    Related Posts

    Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

    4 June 2025

    Silicon slip-ups: the tech industry’s biggest flops

    29 May 2025

    Now Facebook wants to … scan your face

    16 May 2025
    Company News

    Wider than a Bok: LG’s new 100-inch QNED TV brings the big screen home

    9 July 2025

    Huawei South Africa Partners Forum 2025: joining hands for a digital, intelligent future

    8 July 2025

    Powering South Africa’s industrial intelligence with Huawei Cloud’s AI-native innovations

    8 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.