Twitter's Stock Surged, Then Slipped on Takeover Speculation

Twitter’s stock received a healthy boost Wednesday afternoon thanks to market speculation that the media giant News Corp may be interested in some kind of acquisition or stock takeover.

Update: Jim Kennedy, a spokesperson for News Corp, simply told Re/code, “The rumor’s untrue.”

Twitter stock, which was trading at an all-time low earlier in the day, shot up more than 12 percent at one point, but has since dropped down closer to 4 percent gains on the day.

The News Corp rumors were buoyed by a segment on CNBC Wednesday in which Twitter was evaluated as a takeover target due to the company’s lower-then-ever stock price. We are looking into where that News Corp rumor started but have yet to find any truth to it.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the rumors.

Google

This is not the first time Twitter has been floated as a takeover target, either via acquisition or by an activist investor. The company stock is near an all-time low and, as a result, its market cap is just over $11 billion.

Update: Bloomberg reporter Alex Barinka tweeted out that there was a big purchase of Twitter shares initiated this afternoon right round the time the rumors started gaining steam. So at least one entity is very interested in Twitter’s prospects — either as a company or as a takeover target.

https://twitter.com/alexbarinka/status/689880348285652993

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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