Twitter (TWTR) Gains on 'Big Pick-Up' in Ad Dollars

Shares of Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) are solidly higher early Thursday (+1.7%) following comments from Axiom Capital analyst Victor Anthony that a Twitter a marketing partner is seeing a "big pick-up" in ad dollars.

"From our checks with Twitter’s marketing partner, Ampush, we learned that they are seeing a "big pick-up" in advertising dollars going to Twitter in 1Q15," Anthony commented. "They were unwilling to quantify the level of that "pick-up" but assured us that it was a meaningful increase from what they have seen in the past. Twitter is now becoming a must-buy for advertisers and Ampush sees potential for ad growth to accelerate on Twitter this year."

While Ampush admitted that Twitter is still years behind Facebook, "those who come to understand how to utilize Twitter’s ad platform are seeing really good results in terms of click-through rates, downloads, and conversions to sales."

He continued, "Advertisers are finding that the targeting of keywords, trends, and events is leading to good results. E-commerce companies, in particular this quarter, are seeing really good results when they match specific products to events such as athletic sneakers with the Super Bowl or shoes and tuxedoes with the Oscars. These advertisers have not only gotten downloads of their apps when they promote them, but have seen first-day purchases in the way they cannot effectively do with Facebook because of the live nature of Twitter. Twitter is becoming a must-buy along with Facebook for everyone and Ampush sees potential for ad dollars to accelerate this year."

The firm maintained a Buy rating and price target of $60 on the stock.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Twitter, Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Twitter, Inc. click here.

Shares of Twitter, Inc. closed at $46.27 yesterday.

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