Evercore ISI Cuts Twitter's Price Target: What It Means for Mutual Fund Investors (TWTR)

Evercore ISI has lowered its price target on Twitter. Here’s what the move means for mutual fund investors.

Inside the Analyst Move

Evercore ISI analyst Ken Sena reported that he has cut his price target on Twitter (TWTR) from $55 to $45. This new price target suggests a 23% increase from the stock’s current price. The firm has maintained a “Buy” rating on TWTR.

The analyst commented: “Using today’s comScore release, in addition to Evercore ISI survey work, we parse Twitter’s relatively weak October/November traffic trends and offer comparison vs. peers across mobile usage. Unfortunately, we find TWTR to be ceding some ground to faster growing competitors, such as Instagram, who also now rival TWTR’s scale. And while Oct. and Nov. user and engagement trends underperformed 3Q14 levels, it is worth noting that we saw a positive growth inflection in US MAUs in Nov. to 22% vs. Oct.’s 19%, possibly signaling recent success. Still, the data broadly points to needed conservatism around our MAU and ad growth forecasts. On lowered estimates, particularly in 2016, what we had been citing as an inflection year, our target lowers to $45 from $55.”

Facebook Is Dominating the Social Media World

There has been a lot of bullish talk regarding Twitter among analysts and investors. Despite the optimistic talk, investors should realize the Facebook (FB) is the winner among the two social media giants. It is important to remember that Twitter is not yet a profitable company and should not be directly compared to FB.

The analyst move today takes Twitter’s slowing traffic trends into consideration with the new price target, but still rates the company as a “Buy.”

Mutual Funds to Watch

Investors seeking exposure to TWTR may want to consider the funds below. These funds currently have the largest stakes in the company.

The Bottom Line

By investing in one of the funds listed above, investors are exposed to a broad range of holdings and industries. Investors interested in TWTR may also be interested in Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG).

Shares of TWTR are down 42% YTD.