What happened
Shares of Twilio (TWLO 1.13%) were trading 6% higher as of 1:33 p.m. EST Wednesday, after a Wall Street firm boosted its price target on the stock. Wells Fargo analyst Michael Turrin raised his price target from $375 to $450, which represents approximately 11% upside from Tuesday's closing price, and reiterated his overweight (equivalent to buy) rating on the stock.
So what
Turrin is bullish on Twilio heading into the communication technology company's fourth-quarter earnings release; he expects that the report will show that the ongoing shift to remote work, a busy holiday shopping season, and the 2020 election combined to have positive impacts on usage and engagement during the period. Additionally, Twilio's $3.2 billion acquisition of leading customer data platform player Segment closed in November, and it should start contributing to the company's financial results soon.
Image source: Twilio.
"Although TWLO shares have performed impressively over the trailing twelve months (+233% vs. NASDAQ +47%), we continue to think FY21 and beyond sets up well for shares given a series of emerging use cases (remote contact center, telemedicine, etc.), synergistic benefits from Segment, and continued market leadership in digitizing customer interactions across channels," Turrin wrote in a research note to investors.
Now what
Twilio is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 17. The company's guidance calls for revenue in the range of $450 million to $455 million, which should translate into an adjusted net loss per share of $0.08 to $0.011. Analysts are currently looking for $454.2 million in sales and an adjusted net loss per share of $0.08.
