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San Francisco - Shares of Twitter were set to soar on Wednesday as surprisingly strong user growth eased investor concerns that the popularity of the micro-messaging site was waning.
The company's shares were up 27% at $48.95 in premarket trading. At that price, Twitter is valued at about $29bn, or about $6bn more than at Tuesday's close.
At least four brokerages raised their ratings on the stock, while at least 17 raised price targets, by as much as $18 to a high of $65, after the company reported results on Tuesday.
Twitter's monthly active users rose 24% to 271 million in the quarter ended June 30, more than expected, as it introduced product tweaks and services built around the soccer World Cup.
Advertisement revenue more than doubled to $277m. Twitter blew past Wall Street expectations in almost every measure in the quarter.
"We continue to believe we are in the early stages of a very long growth cycle for Twitter as it leverages cultural ubiquity, invests in product and technology, and grows the platform," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note.
Twitter shares closed at $38.59 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
