Bob Peck: Twitter's New Update Has 'Jack's Fingerprints' All Over It; Make Him Permanent CEO

• Shares of Twitter Inc TWTR lost nearly half of its value relative to its 52-week high of $55.99.
• Bob Peck of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey maintained a Buy rating and $38 price target on the stock.
• Peck suggested that Twitter has shown "accelerated innovation" since Jack Dorsey's appointment of interim CEO.

Twitter recently updated its app for the iOS 9 upgrade for Apple Inc. AAPL devices, which included the new functionality of "universal links" that enables a user to view a Tweet or profile page in the Twitter app by clicking on the relevant Tweet on the web, email or text message. In a report published Thursday, Bob Peck of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey commented that the universal links feature is an example of a "low hanging fruit that can improve user experience." Peck noted that prior to the update, when a person saw a Tweet outside of the Twitter app (i.e in an email), clicking on the link would take the user to the mobile web and "drop them" at Twitter's mobile website at which point the user would need to log in to Twitter in order to engage with the Tweet. Since the user was logged out of the Twitter ecosystem they would not be counted as a monthly active user (MAU). With the update, the user will now be brought directly to the Tweet within the Twitter app. Peck continued that Twitter has already quantified that roughly 500 million people visit Twitter per month and don't login, 400 million of which arrive via content (Tweets, profile pages, search, etc). Following the update, the analyst suggested that Twitter could see a "lift" to its MAU base in two ways: 1) reengage users with the app downloaded who are dormant, or 2) through discovery like Google Search. Finally, Peck argued that this update has "@Jack's fingerprint" and is a prime example of the "accelerated innovation" under Jack Dorsey's leadership. "We think that the accelerated innovation is another reason why Jack Dorsey should be named permanent CEO," Peck wrote. "We continue to believe that this will be the case and that he has support of shareholders and employees." Bottom line, the impact to Twitter's update in the short-term is "likely minor" but it is important over the long-term and could organically grow MAUs by 13 million over time.