Wunderlich: Expect Another Strong Quarter, Twitter Investors

In a report published Tuesday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Blake T. Harper maintained a Hold rating on

, with a price target of $50. Twitter has taken several initiatives to improve its ability to monetize its user base and platform. These include the acquisition of Periscope, a live video streaming app, and bringing some of its data selling in-house. Harper considers Twitter's recent purchase of standalone app Periscope as "a significant opportunity (and potential threat) to traditional video media players." The purchase "adds to the company's Amplify and Vine products to help capture a larger share of the online video market," which eMarketer estimates would grow more than 30 percent in 2015 to reach almost $8 billion in the US. "We also expect the company to benefit over the longer term by pulling more of its data business in-house, which makes sense following its Gnip acquisition, although this could inhibit future third-party development on the platform," Harper wrote. The analyst believes that Twitter has been making progress in improving the reach of its platform, which should "help offset ongoing concerns over MAU growth." There are rumors of Twitter being a takeover target and these speculations could continue, although the company is unlikely to make efforts to pursue a sale. "We would expect them instead to be intently focused on building a more valuable and enduring platform rather than selling to one of the few companies large enough to acquire them, most of whom have already looked at acquiring Twitter in the past," Harper commented. The analyst expects Twitter to post another strong quarter of financial results. "We expect Q1 results to continue to be driven by website cards, mobile app installs, and promoted video ads," the report added.