Twitter lags behind its competitors ‘in a lot of key metrics’

As a result of Elon Musk’s recent unsolicited $43 million bid to purchase Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), the social media network has received a great deal of attention, not just in terms of its stock price, but also in terms of how it is functioning for its users.

Speaking with CNBC, Anthony Bartolacci of the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower discussed why Twitter is falling behind in user engagement.

According to Bartolacci, Twitter is a very large social network. Still, when it comes to analyzing how devices interact with mobile apps, “in many key metrics, it is lacking some of its higher growth competitors.”

“We see Twitter devices are not using Twitter as freely as messaging applications like Snapchat nor our users going back to Twitter as frequently as they are more long form video and share platforms like Instagram and TikTok.”

The analyst highlighted that Twitter moves really based on the news when their timely news events day over the day, it does have some volatility; he added:

“Looking at our dataset, first quarter the data had the greatest day in engagement was February 24 when the initial bombing in Ukraine began so I think it is served by the news.”

Twitter user demographics

In addition to the Twitter, chart lagging in frequency, and time spent messaging, Batrolacci addressed how the app is not affected by extended periods of individuals viewing videos for leisure, such as those on TikTok or Snapchat, and how this virtually puts a cap on the service’s potential.  

Especially when compared to some of the other platforms that are witnessing “both faster active user growth and more time spent inside the platform.”

The Elon Musk effect

After Elon Musk announced his 9.2% holding in Twitter, shares surged as high as 30% in premarket trade. The stock has been up by $9.28 (24.79%) in the last month and is currently trading at $46.72.

Also, in the last month, TWTR has been trading between the $37.58 and $54.57 range; it is currently trading in the middle of this range, which suggests some resistance may be found above.

The medium-term picture for the Twitter stock is still unclear as many investors await the outcome of Elon Musk’s $43 billion hostile takeover bid. However, recent price action has been positive, and the short-term trend is also favorable, with the stock trading above its 20 and 50-day simple moving averages.

While the stock has lagged behind key indicators of rivals, this shows that the stock has shown some resilience, even if it is still far from its all-time high levels.

Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.