Twitter Shares Soar after Microsoft Agrees to Buy LinkedIn

Twitter IPO
Image credit: Anthony Quintano

The stock price of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) increased as much as $15.30 per share in the early trading today following the report that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) agreed to acquire LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD)  for $26.2 billion.

The microblogging company’s stock is trading around $14.90 per share, up by 6.31% at the time of this writing around 12:12 in the afternoon. Twitter shares recorded the highest intraday increase since April 4.

The microblogging company lost more than 58% of stock value over the past year as investors remained concerned regarding its ability to boost its user base and profitability.

Next acquisition target

Market observers suggested that the microblogging company will probably the next acquisition target by a larger technology company. There had been speculations that Google and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will be interested in buying Twitter.

Last week, Robert Peck of Suntrust Robinson Humprey commented that a sale is more likely for the company given the continued departure of its executives.Its  head of consumer product Jeff Seibert vacated his role and decided to return to his position at Fabric, the company’s new mobile development platform.

The microblogging company already lost four executives leading its product development unit since 2014. Last month, Jana Messerschmidt, head of business development and Nathan Hubbard, head of media and commerce resigned. The exodus of its executives is a great concern for investors.

Peck said, “We note that if the current trend of meager user and engagement growth remains, we think it’s inevitable that Twitter will need to pursue M&A alternatives as has been discussed in the media for some time.”

Twitter remains a big question mark

Ivan Feinseith, the chief information officer at Tigress Financial recently commented that Twitter remains a big question mark. He also believed that the microblogging company lacks exceptionalism. According to him, people are uncertain whether it is a sinking ship or an undervalued company.

On Friday, Twitter decided to reset an unspecified number of user accounts. Its move came following reports that the login credentials of more than 32 million twitter users are for sale over the dark web.

The microblogging company said its servers were not hacked. The hackers probably obtained the users’ login credentials by combining information from recent breaches and through password-stealing malware on their devices. In a blog post,  its Trust and Information Security Officer, Michael Coates said, “Regardless of origin, “We’re acting swiftly to protect your Twitter account.”