Wedbush's Initial Reaction To Twitter's Q1 Results: 'Major Feather In The Cap For Bulls'

Twitter Inc TWTR reported first-quarter results that were a "major feather in the cap for bulls," Wedbush's Daniel Ives told Fox Business News.

What Happened

Heading into Twitter's earnings print, Ives said some investors were skeptical that monthly active users (MAUs) and overall growth would disappoint. The company showed a beat on the MAU line with 330 million users versus expectations of 318 million.

Exiting the report, it's evident other metrics are more important to dissect, including monetization and engagement. Tuesday's earnings print marks the last time the company will report MAU metrics in favor of monetizable daily active users (mDAUs).

Why It's Important

In some ways, Ives said Twitter is more of a media company and management deserves credit for delivering a quarter "bulls are going to cheer." In fact, an ongoing priority for Twitter is to make sure "the Street is happy" and the first test was showing it "started off on the right foot" for 2019, he said. (Sees the analyst's track record here.)

Twitter along with other social media, tech and cloud companies have further upside, especially against lowered expectations, the analyst said.

What's Next

Looking forward to the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Twitter and other companies could see a boost in business from political advertising. This would be especially valuable for Twitter as the "best thing that ever happened" to Twitter is Donald Trump, he said.

Twitter's stock traded higher by 6.4 percent to $36.59 per share Tuesday morning.

Related Links:

BTIG Projects Rising Twitter User Numbers, Strong EBITDA

Analysts Largely Sidelined On Twitter As Platform Gears For Higher Investments