Speculation that Twitter could sell itself to another company reignited last week, but don t expect the rumors to fizzle out anytime soon.
The company s board of directors is meeting this Thursday and will be discussing Twitter s fate as an independent company, Recode reported, citing anonymous sources.
Last week, Twitter s stock jumped more than 4 percent after Twitter co-founder Ev Williams told Bloomberg TV the tech firm has to consider all its options after being asked about whether it can remain an independent company.
Twitter, which has struggled to attract new users and hit Wall Street s expectations, has been facing takeover rumors for a while but a buyout hasn t come to fruition. Meanwhile, it s seen its stock drop even with a new CEO taking over last year.
Some analysts say it s still unlikely that Twitter will be snapped up by another company this year.
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey has been leading the company for only a year; the company has been launching new efforts including around live streaming sports games; and there s a belief that the board supports Dorsey, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Bob Peck wrote in a note on Tuesday.
Even if Twitter wanted to sell itself, Peck estimates that acquisition deal would have to reach $18 billion.
The sheer size, coupled with the rich multiple and uniqueness of Twitter, limit the potential list of acquirers. While we don t see one obvious buyer, we list the pros & cons for potential acquirers that investors cite, like: Google, Facebook, Apple, Tencent, Salesforce.com, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon, Disney, Amazon, Fox, Bloomberg, and Oracle, Peck wrote.
SiliconBeat reached out to Twitter and this post will be updated if the company responds.
Twitter stock is slightly up today at $19.83 per share, an uptick of about 1.4 percent.
Photo: The Twitter building is photographed Dec. 14, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
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