Twitter shares soar on buyout rumors 

New York: Twitter Inc’s Shares surged 7.25 percent to close at $17.61 on Wednesday following a rumor saying that former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer was buying the micro-blogging website.

About 8.2 million shares were changed hands, when compared to the 30-day average volume of 23.6 million shares. Shares were up three percent week-to-date even after Twitter missed second-quarter revenue expectations on July 26.

According to the media reports, Ballmer and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal were getting ready with a bid to buy Twitter. Last year, Ballmer announced that he had acquired four per cent stake in Twitter which has market cap of nearly $12 billion, SiliconBeat reported on Thursday. However, Twitter has not responded so far about the rumor.

According to the media reports, Ballmer and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal were getting ready with a bid to buy Twitter. Last year, Ballmer announced that he had acquired four per cent stake in Twitter which has market cap of nearly $12 billion, SiliconBeat reported on Thursday. However, Twitter has not responded so far about the rumor.

Earlier, Twitter added three million users, one million more than the forecast of analysts. The second quarter earnings disappointed investors and this led to tumbling of shares.

The company posted quarterly revenue of $602 million, up 20 per cent year-over-year and reported $107 million GAAP net loss ($0.15 per share) with quarterly non-GAAP net income of $93 million ($0.13 per share).

A year ago, the year-over-year growth was 61 per cent and two years back, it was a whopping 124 per cent.
The average monthly active users (MAUs) were 313 million for the quarter, up three per cent compared to 310 million in the previous quarter.
The micro-blogging website is exploring ways to include video and news streaming space to enhance profitability.

Source: IANS