Twitter shares could move 5 percent in either direction by Friday: options data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter Inc's shares have tumbled since late October when the company reported quarterly results, but options data, ahead of an analyst conference Wednesday, suggests a move of 5 percent in either direction is possible by Friday. Twitter shares fell 10 percent on Oct. 28 after quarterly results showed a disappointing slide in a closely watched measure of engagement. The stock has shed another 8 percent since then. The stock could continue its slide and drop toward $38.55 by the end of the week, or recover some losses to rise toward $42.61, according to a popular options market trading strategy. That swing is calculated using the cost of a near-term Twitter straddle, in which an investor buys an at-the-money put option and a similar call option, and it suggests a share move of about 5 percent in either direction by Friday. Shares were little changed at $40.52 in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Twitter is scheduled to host a financial analyst day on Wednesday in San Francisco, where Chief Executive Dick Costolo and Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto are expected to speak about the company's finances and illuminate its growth plans. With user growth not meeting expectations, management's efforts at improving user experience will be a key area of interest at the event, Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian write in a note to clients. "We believe Twitter management intends to communicate a 'we're just getting started' message to Wall Street, both in terms of products and monetization," Sebastian wrote. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Bernadette Baum)