3 key things to watch in Twitter earnings
Social media stocks take center stage this week as earnings season rolls on, with big-name reports from Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Yelp (NYSE: YELP) and LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) all on deck. Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), which is currently trading near 52-week lows, is scheduled to report earnings Tuesday evening for the first time since interim CEO Jack Dorsey returned to the helm.
According to Pacific Crest Senior Analyst Evan Wilson, there are three main things to watch in Twitter's earnings announcement.
Twitter has largely missed out on the tech rally, dropping 3 percent this year versus a 6 percent gain for the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: .IXIC). Much of the lag can be attributed to trading after Twitter's April earnings report, when the stock plunged 25 percent in the subsequent two sessions after earnings were leaked ahead of schedule.
Wilson, who has an "overweight" rating and $52 price target on the stock, told CNBC's " Fast Money " he's "not expecting a great report" this time either.
One of the key metrics Wilson said he'd be watching is Twitter's all-important monthly active user (MAU) growth for the quarter. "We're expecting 5 million users. That's a slowdown in terms of MAU adds," he said. The slowdown has been well telegraphed in the market, he added, and "expectations are relatively low."
Next, Wilson said third quarter guidance will be a key metric. "The Street's currently expecting about 15.5 percent sequential revenue growth in Q3," he said. "There is some probability that they could give guidance that is at best in line with the Street, and potentially slightly below."
Finally, Wilson addressed the elephant in the room for Twitter, saying any update from the company regarding its CEO search is unexpected, but would be incremental.
Wilson said he expected a CEO announcement to come at some point in the fourth quarter. The key, he said, is for Twitter to get a new CEO that can help turn around the user story. If that happens, he said, Twitter will resume being a "good stock" to own.
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