UPDATE: Macquarie Downgrades Twitter, Fundamentals Aren't Cause of Price Hike

In a report published Friday, Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter downgraded Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) from Neutral to Underperform with a price target of $46.00.

According to the report, nothing over the past few weeks has changed in the fundamentals that would justify the recent sharp rise in shares. Since December 11 when Macquarie changed its rating to Neutral, shares have risen 40%. The downgrade to Underperform is expected to be “among the shortest downgrade you’ve ever read.”

Some key points from the interview included:

- ”Estimate differences between underwriters and others could limit upside to consensus.”
- While Macquarie is quite bullish on its potential, the firm highlights that it takes time and people to execute against opportunities and noted Twitter has half the staff of Facebook.
- ”Finally, we note that because of TWTR’s run and rules around price targets, we expect many other analysts will quickly have to either justify raising targets (based on little new information) or downgrade.

Twitter closed on Thursday at $73.31.