Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) were up 4.4% in late morning trading on June 14. The stock has soared 83% in 2018 so far and is up 160% year over year. What is behind this rise?
Twitter only saw a 3% increase in year-over-year users in the previous quarter. The company made big changes to its user policies in response to criticism after the contentious 2016 election. Twitter has also managed to pull more advertising revenue from its existing user base and improved engagement among those users.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has projected that Twitter could see a boost in user traffic and engagement during the 2018 World Cup. Twitter has made impressive strides with its streaming and news services, and has launched a dedicated World Cup page that will seek to keep users up to date.
Twitter turned a profit for the first time since its public listing in the fourth quarter. It followed that up with a $61 million profit in the first quarter, which was encouraging for investors. The company was recently re-listed on the S&P 500, replacing the biotechnology giant Monsanto.
Its stock has a ways to go before it can challenge the highs it reached in the months following its initial public offering. Still, back-to-back profitable quarters and significant improvements to the platform make it a viable target going forward. Investors may want to wait for an entry point after its most recent surge.
