Twitter climbs to new high as advertising market recovers

Twitter Inc. shares climbed to an intraday record on Tuesday, taking out an all-time high that has stood for nearly its entire life as a public company.

The social-media platform rose as much as 4.1% to $74.84 as of 10:52 a.m. in New York. Twitter reached its previous intraday peak of $74.73 in December 2013, less than two months after it went public. Its shares have climbed for 11 straight days, the longest winning streak since August.

The advance is the latest milestone for the company, which has advanced 37% this year, shrugging off a brief decline that came after it permanently banned Donald Trump in the wake of the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Like peers Snap Inc. and Pinterest Inc., Twitter has benefitted from a recovery in digital advertising. On Feb. 10, it reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ projections, though it warned that user growth may slow in 2021, following last year’s pandemic-driven surge.

“Twitter’s 2021 outlook is supported, in our view, by growing user engagement and prospects for increased digital ad spending,” said Mandeep Singh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Despite the recent gains, Wall Street remains mixed on Twitter’s longer-term prospects. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, 12 firms recommend buying the stock, compared with 24 that have a neutral view and five that have a bearish view. The average price target of $62 is about 17% lower than the current price.