Twitter’s stock surprisingly jumped today after Sun Trust analyst Robert Peck told CNBC that CEO Dick Costolo may be on his way out, saying “We think there’s a good chance he’s not there in a year.”
Shares of the company rose more than 3.5 percent today. It’s a sign of investors’ lack of confidence in Costolo, who has been facing skepticism from Wall Street after Twitter’s user growth slowed down this year.
That’s not to say Peck has any sort of inside information to back up his statements, or even that his prediction will necessarily come to pass. But today’s message was clear: Costolo will face increasing pressure until Twitter starts performing the way Wall Street wants it to.
The company has been working hard to try and improve its product and make it more approachable for more people. In the new year, Twitter plans to roll out more changes to the way it displays users’ timelines, as well as open up group direct messaging. Those changes may be enough to pull in more people, and Costolo has said in the past that the company is also working to monetize those people who view Twitter’s content but who aren’t members of the service themselves.
