For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 28, 2016 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOGL -Free Report ), Salesforce (NYSE: CRM -Free Report ) and Disney (NYSE: DIS -Free Report ).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Who Should Buy Twitter: salesforce, Disney or Google?
Buyout rumors surrounding Twitter (TWTR) have been doing the rounds for quite a while now but recently the talks have started to gain steam. Media reports indicate that management is “moving closer to sale” having exhausted the options that would have allowed it to remain independent.
Earlier this month, a critical board meeting was held regarding the possibilities for Twitter. However, the company’s board had refrained from arriving at a decision back then. Instead, the Jack Dorsey-led team bargained for some more time to “turn things around”.
The micro-blogging site has been struggling with too many issues for a long while now. Apart from a slowdown in user growth and advertising dollars, the most important concern for investors is that even after a decade of operations, Twitter hasn’t raked in profits. That was because despite Twitter’s uniqueness, management struggled to carve out a path for growth and monetization.
Now with the increasing possibility of a sale, there is no dearth of suitors for this social platform. It is however quite different from other social media platforms. It is the go-to platform for news. No need to say that one of the most important assets of this company is the vast amount of data it collects that can be leveraged by so many companies like Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL -Free Report ), Salesforce (NYSE: CRM -Free Report ) , Disney (NYSE: DIS -Free Report ) and others like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Verizon as well.
Let’s see how these companies will benefit, should they consider taking over Twitter.
Salesforce
This leading customer relationship management platform provider missed taking over LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) earlier this year. It is now eyeing Twitter’s treasured data for getting insights especially sentiment analysis, which can greatly enhance its offerings. In addition, Salesforce will also get access to a vast number of companies that use it as a marketing tool.
According to Bloomberg, if Salesforce succeeded in acquiring Twitter, “[it] would be buying a consumer-facing service with unique challenges -- such as monitoring hate speech and fighting state censorship -- that a corporate software company rarely handles.”
Moreover, Salesforce already has an arrangement with Twitter whereby it uses the latter’s data to generate leads and drive growth. Despite an attractive valuation, buying Twitter will still weigh on Salesforce’s financials as it has nine other acquisitions in the pipeline.
No wonder, Salesforce investors weren’t too happy regarding this speculation.
Disney
Yes, apparently this prominent media company is also interested in taking over Twitter. It looks like Disney intends to broaden its media footprint with this acquisition, especially giving a boost to its video-streaming plans. This is because, lately, Twitter has upped its game in the streaming space. It has launched apps for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft devices in order to allow their users stream content like NFL Thursday Night Football, Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), Pac 12 Networks and even Campus Insiders, Cheddar and Bloomberg News.
Disney, on the other hand, has invested in companies like Hulu, Vice and BAMTech to further its position in the streaming space. Acquiring Twitter does make sense in this respect. Twitter could benefit from Disney’s association with television networks.
However, as Bloomberg points out, there will likely be a conflict of interests as Dorsey is also a member of the Disney board.
Alphabet’s Google
Google is widely believed to be leading in the race of potential suitors for Twitter. This is because a lot of its offerings are already integrated or can be easily combined with Twitter. The search engine has already included ‘Tweets’ in its search results page. This apart, Google can also drive great value by integrating Twitter with YouTube or its Android mobile operating system.
Buying Twitter will expand its presence in the social media space, for which it has been striving for a long time now, especially in the face of mounting competition from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). Apart from this, Google will also be able to boost its ad dollars by integrating deeper with Twitter and also cross-selling to the micro blogging platform.
Wrapping Up
While it will be interesting to see how Twitter evolves after its takeover, we can only speculate as of now. Twitter has refrained from making any official statement regarding its sale. But the company will surely get a new lease of life once it finds a taker.
At present, Twitter is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today.
About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.
Get the full Report on GOOGL - FREE
Get the full Report on CRM - FREE
Get the full Report on DIS - FREE
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report
SALESFORCE.COM (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report
DISNEY WALT (DIS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post