The price of Twitter shares surged after an analyst predicted that CEO Dick Costolo will be stepping down next year.
According to Robert Peck, Sun Trust analyst, Costolo's tenure in Twitter has been the most asked question to him by institutional shareholders, specifically on whether the CEO will be able to end 2015 still in his current position.
"We think there's a good chance he's not there in a year," said Peck during an interview with CNBC.
Despite no definite source for Peck to make the claim, the prices of Twitter shares jumped 4 percent, which is seen as largely due to the comments made by the analyst. Moreover, the opportunity to buy stocks is also created. Trading ended with Twitter's share price increasing to $38.66, which is still 44 percent lower compared to the peak price of the shares back in January at $69 each.
Costolo is under pressure from investors mainly due to the massive drop in Twitter share prices, in addition to the social network's failure to increase its active users per month. Twitter's monthly active users are at 284 million, which is nowhere near Facebook's number of monthly active users at 1.35 billion.
In addition to the disappointing performance of Twitter, Costolo has also received criticism for several changes that he made to the strategy of the company and the introduction of ineffective leadership tactics, which include the replacement of five prominent positions in Twitter's top brass since the high-profile IPO of the company.
Costolo's trust also recently sold some of its shares, a move which garnered a very negative reaction from one of Twitter's major shareholders when interviewed by CNBC.
"Selling stock speaks louder than any words. As the CEO, how do you look the employees in the eye when you are busy grabbing a lifeboat? He has lost their respect, and obviously the respect of the market," the shareholder said.
The shareholder added that the employees of Twitter are aware of the potential of the company, and see Costolo as a hindrance to achieving that potential.
Peck also gave suggestions on people who can take over the CEO position of Twitter if Costolo leaves. Some of the individuals that Peck mentioned include former Yahoo! CEO Ross Levinsohn, who he said would be a great CEO due to his background in media; Google DoubleClick chief Neal Mohan; and Google chief business officer Omid Kordestani.
Peck also quelled expectations that Anthony Noto, current CFO of Twitter, could take over the CEO position, adding that pairing Noto with a "large media personality" in the CEO position would be a good match.
