Axiom's Anthony Says Costolo Stepping Down Puts Twitter Into Play

Shares of Twitter Inc TWTR are rallying in Friday’s pre-market session, up $1.22 to $37.06, representing a 3.40 percent increase. The reason for the rally is due to CEO Dick Costolo announcing he is stepping down from his position, but will still stay on the board of directors.

Victor Anthony, analyst at Axiom, believes Costolo stepping down puts the company into play. Anthony rates the social media company at Hold alongside a targeted price of $45. He notes “We are positive on the CEO transition, we think the Board should consider a seasoned and accomplished executive within the technology space and that may require seeking someone outside the firm.” Anthony contributes a few candidates that would be great for the new role; Omid Kordestani of Google, Tim Armstrong of AOL, and John Donahoe of Ebay would all be great CEOs that will change the direction of Twitter, according to Victor.

Victor adds that the new CEO should spend great efforts in pushing out product iterations at a fast pace. He suggests Google to acquire Twitter, commenting it “would be a wise use of Google’s capital.” He also adds Facebook and Apple to the mix as other potential acquirers.

Twitter is down nearly 24 percent in the past three months, and will hope to see the new CEO maximize shareholder value.