How to buy Twitter shares

By: Charlie Hancox

Alongside his passion for trading, Charlie has represented Great Britain and won national championships as a water polo player,… read more.

Updated: May 17, 2021

Before you invest in Twitter, reading this page is a good idea. In this handy guide, we explain the company’s recent investment performance and where to buy Twitter stock online.

Compare the best Twitter trading platforms

For individuals who are looking for the best place to buy Twitter shares, choose one of the links in the table below and click it. This will direct you to one of the top online brokers, and we have tested each option extensively to make sure they provide a service you can trust. For those who want to learn more before investing, simply scroll down this page.

1

Min. Deposit

$50

Promotion

User Score

10

Trade/invest in stocks with just $50

Invest for dividends and get payout on stocks on Ex-Dividend day

Over 11 payment methods, including PayPal

Start Trading

more info

Description:

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform with more than 2000 assets, including FX, stocks, ETF’s, indices and commodities. eToro users can connect with, learn from, and copy or get copied by other users. Buying stocks on eToro is free and you can invest with as little as $50.

Payment Methods

Bank Transfer, Wire Transfer

Full regulations list:

CySEC, FCA

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro. Your capital is at risk.

2

Min. Deposit

$1

Promotion

User Score

9.3

0 Commissions and no deposit minimums

Registered with and regulated by SEC and FINRA

Loss of cash protection

Start Trading

more info

Description:

Financial company driven by technology and offering all-in-one self-directed investment platform that provides excellent user experience.

Payment Methods

Full regulations list:

How to buy Twitter shares, a step-by-step guide

This process is simple, so don’t worry even if you’re new to stock investing. These are the steps to follow in order to complete your investment:

1. Choose a broker. To invest in any company online, you need to use an online brokerage platform. There are many different options to choose from, each with its own unique benefits and drawbacks. The comparison table above can help you select the right broker for you, and you can head to our comprehensive broker reviews if you’re still unsure.
2. Create an account. Once you’ve selected your broker, simply go to their website and create an account. The steps required for this will vary from platform to platform, but generally, you can expect to have to provide your name, email address, phone number, and some form of photo identification.
3. Deposit funds. Log into your broker account and select the option to deposit funds. Depending on your broker you’ll have a variety of payment options available; most brokers accept bank transfers and debit card payments, but not all accept e-wallets such as PayPal. Select your preferred payment method and deposit the amount of money you wish to invest in Twitter shares.
4. Place an order for TWTR stock. Now navigate to the shares section of your online broker account. Here, you can search for Twitter’s ticker symbol (TWTR) and see the current price at which the stock is trading. If you’re happy with the price, enter the number of shares you wish to purchase and place your order.
5. Execute your order. Once you have placed your order, your broker will automatically execute it for you and your Twitter shares will be listed in your account. Congratulations, you’ve just bought shares in Twitter.

What is Twitter? And should I invest?

Twitter is one of the world’s most popular social media platforms and apps with around 192 million daily active users, most of whom are aged between 35 and 65. Users are able to ‘tweet’ their opinions on all manner of topics, and subjects of particular interest include politics, music, TV and popular culture. It has also become a popular marketing tool for business small and large.

The company makes most of its $3.7 billion annual revenue from advertising, though it also generates capital from things like data licensing. The company is both a blue-chip and tech stock, meaning it has the fundamental value and stability that investors are looking for, along with the potential for significant growth from technological innovations.

Despite all this success, Twitter only had its first profitable year in 2019, having invested immensely in tech expertise and marketing since its inception in 2006. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and could be a good choice for investors interested in largely cyclical stocks with growth potential.

How has the company performed in recent years?

The rapid growth of social media usage in the last decade means that Twitter’s share price has taken off in the last 5 years. This growth has been driven by increasing revenue, up 7.43% to $3.716 billion in 2020. However, the company was not profitable last year, losing around $1.14 billion.

As far as dividends, because Twitter’s profitability is inconsistent, they are not currently in play. This means that investors need value to be generated solely from share price accretion, and this has certainly been the case in the last few years. It remains to be seen if this trend will continue.

The company has experienced its fair share of controversies in recent times, perhaps most notably when it banned former President Trump for violating the platform’s terms of service. Moreover, there have repeatedly been questions marks raised regarding the company’s approach to privacy, censorship and cyberbullying. Despite these issues, Twitter’s ascent to an all-time high share price in 2020 is hard to ignore.

Is it a good time to buy Twitter shares now?

This depends on your outlook for Twitter and the wider technology market, as well as your personal investment strategy. So, for long-term investors, if you believe Twitter can become a consistently profitable company with regular dividends, investing now could be a good move. Moreover, additional innovations and revenue streams could lead to an even greater rise in the share price.

For short-term traders, the fundamental value and profitability of Twitter is far less important than technical indicators and market sentiment. Twitter is a large stock, and so it isn’t necessarily the most volatile, but trading volumes are healthy and there should be plenty of opportunities to buy low and sell higher in a short time frame if you pay attention.

However you choose to invest in Twitter, make sure you stay informed about the company by reading our latest in-depth analysis. Click any of the links below to stay in the loop.

Buying, selling and trading shares for beginners

What to do before buying shares

You should always take the time to research a stock fully before investing your money, especially if you haven’t bought shares before. The more knowledge you have, the better your chances of making a wise investment. 

With that in mind, here’s a checklist to run through before investing in Twitter shares.

1. Research the company. You should always examine the fundamentals of a company before investing. What is Twitter? How did the company get its start? How did it grow? Is Twitter’s revenue and profit growth picking up? Is the company innovating? The more you know about Twitter, the better positioned you’ll be to make smart investment decisions.
2. Make sure you understand the basics of stock investing. Before getting involved in the stock market, make sure you have an understanding of how it works. This will ensure that you have more clearly defined goals and have thought through how you will achieve them.
3. Decide between share dealing and CFD trading. Choose the type of investment strategy you want to pursue, and make sure you have carried out the necessary fundamental or technical analysis for share dealing and CFD trading respectively.
4. Set the size of your budget. The golden rule of investing is never to risk more than you can afford to lose. Not every investment you make will result in a profit, so it is important to set a budget that not only allows good potential for capital growth, but also protects against overly damaging losses.
5. Find the right broker. Individual brokers each have their own pros and cons. Some will have low fees but have a user interface you struggle to understand, whereas others may be a bit more expensive but come with a range of features that you want to take advantage of. Use our broker reviews to find the right platform for you.
6. Examine broader market conditions. No stock exists in a vacuum, and it’s always important to analyse the general trends of the stock market as a whole before investing. If a bear market is setting in and stock prices are falling, it’s best to wait it out and invest your money later when the stock is cheaper. If, however, the market is looking bullish, you’ll want to make your investment quickly to get the maximum benefit from rising stock prices. Follow the latest news to help you keep on top of movements in the financial markets.

What is the difference between buying, selling, and trading shares?

If you’re new to stock investing, then it’s important to understand the basics of how to buy, sell, and trade Twitter shares. Here’s a quick run-through of what’s involved in each.

Buying Twitter

This process involves finding a broker and placing an order for Twitter stock, as outlined in the steps further up this page. Ideally, you want to time your investment when the stock’s price is low so that you can profit by selling the shares after they increase in value.

Selling Twitter

When you sell any Twitter shares you have bought, you’ll want to do so at a higher price than the one at which you bought to earn a profit. 

When you sell is up to you. You might decide to keep your shares for the long term, hoping to benefit from the company growing steadily throughout. Or, if you see that Twitter’s stock is already up a lot compared to the price you bought it and you’ve noticed that the stock market is starting to fall, it might make sense to sell and take your profits to invest elsewhere. Equally, if the stock has fallen since you bought it and looks set to fall further, it might be a good idea to cut your losses by selling your shares.

Trading Twitter

Trading is the same process as buying and selling shares, it’s just done over shorter periods of time with the aim to make small profits on a regular basis. This means that you can make money faster and spend your profits in your day-to-day life – however, on the other side it means you can lose money faster as well. For inexperienced investors, we generally recommend making investments for at least 6 months to a year instead of making trades in quick succession.

You can trade Twitter shares outright or use CFDs. These allow investors to speculate on stock prices and trade with leverage in pursuit of bigger gains. CFDs trading is explained further in the next section, but it is worth noting that beginners should avoid trading with leverage. It comes with large risks and is best left to experienced investors.

Share dealing vs CFD trading

When it comes to investing in any stock, the two options you have are share dealing and trading. Which one of these methods to opt for largely depends on your investment timeline, with investors thinking long term tending to go for share dealing, and those looking for short term gains pursuing a more aggressive trading strategy.

Here’s a quick summary of the two approaches, and the pros and cons of each.

Share dealing 

Share dealing refers to the practice of buying and holding shares in a particular company over the long term. When investing like this, you’re seeking to profit either from dividend payments or an increase in the stock’s price over time.

When investing your money this way, it is important to do thorough fundamental analysis of the company in which you are investing. You want to put your money in a stock you believe will trend upwards over time, even if there is some market volatility along the way, rather than get distracted by shorter term peaks and troughs.

Pros

• Can build wealth over time to achieve financial goals
• Don’t need to be very reactive to short-term market movements
• Some stocks will give you an income through regular dividend payments

Cons

• Takes a long time to realise any profits
• Your capital is tied up in stocks and cannot be used for other investments

CFD Trading 

If your aim is to generate profits in the short term, then you might be better off trading shares than holding them in your portfolio. Stock trades like this are executed using CFDs (contracts for difference), which allow investors to trade against the value of a stock without having to take ownership of it. When CFD trading, investors are looking to open and close positions fast to profit from short-term fluctuations in value.

One aspect of CFD trading that many investors find attractive is that they allow you to trade with leverage. This means you can place large trades while only putting up a fraction of the value yourself – for instance, if a platform offered leverage of 1:10, you could put £10 into MA shares and be able to trade £100 worth. This can maximise profits if the market moves in your favour, but be careful as it can also lead to heavy losses.

When trading using CFDs, it is key to be skilled at technical analysis and reading stock price charts. As you’re trading stocks quickly and frequently, the fundamental strength of the company in which you’re investing isn’t as important as being able to predict how its stock price will rise and fall minute-by-minute.

Pros

• Can generate fast profits if you read the market right 
• Some platforms allow you to trade with leverage
• Prevents your capital being tied up so you can take advantage of investment opportunities

Cons

• Trading with leverage is risky and can lead to big losses
• Doesn’t necessarily generate growth over the long term

Consider which approach suits you best and craft an investment strategy that works for you. If you need more information, then simply take our course on how to trade stocks.

If neither of these options appeal to you, then you can find a variety of other ways to invest in MA stock on this page. If, however, you’re ready to get started now, simply select one of the brokers in the table above and sign up.

How to choose a broker

With the wide variety of online brokers available these days, it can be hard to figure out which is the best service to go with. Our comparison table and in-depth reviews can help you cut through the noise, but by and large these are the aspects you should be considering when selecting a broker:

• Range of stocks available. The most important thing is that you can actually use the broker to buy the shares you’re looking for. Some brokers offer more stocks than others, and many will allow you to trade other assets, such as forex and commodities.
• Fees and commissions. You want to keep as large a chunk of your profits as you can, so it’s important to make sure your broker doesn’t charge high fees that can eat into your profits.
• Regulation. You should only use regulated brokers to place trades. Unregulated brokers can be risky and offer little to no protection if the business were to fail while you had funds in your account.
• Payment methods available. You might want to invest using a specific payment method, such as PayPal. Not all brokers accept every payment method, but by using our comparisons, you can search for the brokers that support the option you’re looking for.
• Reputation. One of the strongest indicators of a broker’s reliability is the reputation it has with the customers who have used it. Brokers are online businesses, and as such many user experiences can be found online. You can check these out in addition to our reviews to make sure you choose the right platform.
• Customer service. As you’re going to be investing your money using the platform, you want to check that the broker offers good customer service in case you have a query or something goes wrong.