Twitter Inc. share price down, acquires 900 patents from IBM Corp., seeks to boost non-US revenue

Twitter Inc. is a global social network that provides its users with the opportunity to express themselves and communicate in real time. According to a company filing, Twitter paid 36 million dollars for the acquisition of a total 900 patents from International Business Machines Corp.

Twitter revealed in its filing on March 6th, which was cited by Bloomberg: “We presently are involved in a number of intellectual-property lawsuits, and as we face increasing competition and gain an increasingly high profile, we expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow.”

The agreement for the purchase was signed in December 2013 and was announced in January this year. Both companies, however, refused to disclose any financial details about the deal. The contract also helped the two companies to resolve a dispute over possible infringement of at least three IBM patents by Twitter Inc.

Twitter announced in its filing that it owns a total of 956 patents and about 100 filed patent applications in the U.S., compared to the 9 patents it had before its initial public offering that took place in November last year.

The company has also been said to be becoming more focused on boosting its income from its users, who live outside the U.S. Analysts consider that increasing the number of its international offices to 15 and the fact that most senior advertising managers of the company have been transferred to Europe and Asia is a sign that Twitter Inc. is seeking to attract more marketers outside its home market.

As reported by the Financial Times, about three quarters of the companys users live outside the U.S., but only about a quarter of Twitters total revenue is generated by them.

The President of global revenue of the company – Mr. Adam Bain, commented for the Financial Times: “The consumer product from close to day one was a global phenomenon. It is not a secret that the international opportunity for us is large. What they see in Twitter is the ability to talk about global campaigns and individual activations at a local level.”

Twitter Inc. fell by 2.37% on Friday in New York to settle at $53.53 per share, trimming the companys market value to $31.50 billion. According to CNN Money, the 28 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Twitter Inc. have a median target of $51.50, with a high estimate of $75.00 and a low estimate of $32.00. The median estimate represents a -3.79% decrease from the previous close.