Twitter rises as Wedbush calls Elon Musk attending all-hands meeting 'clear step' towards deal
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares rose early on Thursday after it was reported that Elon Musk would reiterate his commitment for ownership at an all-hands meeting with employees of the embattled social network, with investment firm Wedbush Securities calling it a "clear step in the right direction" towards a deal happening.
Analyst Dan Ives noted that Musk is expected to address a number of questions in the meeting, including when the deal is likely to close, if he still wants to do it and what his policies will be in terms of where and how employees work. 
"This clearly is not the 'cookie cutter' typical all-hands meeting as this global soap opera between Musk and Twitter has taken many twists and turns since the landmark deal was first announced," Ives, who covers Tesla (TSLA), wrote in a note to clients.
Twitter (TWTR) shares rose slightly more than 2.5% to $39 in premarket trading on Thursday, a far cry from the $54.20 offer price that both sides have agreed upon.
In addition, Ives pointed out that Twitter's (TWTR) decision to give Musk access to a "firehose" of raw tweets on hundreds of millions of daily tweets to understand the fake account issue is likely to help push the deal along, given Musk's previous comments about the deal being on hold until more clarity is gained on the issue.
With regards to the offer price, Ives believes that initial deal is "essentially out the window," citing the spread between the current share price and the offer and that there is likely to be renegotiation, something Twitter's (TWTR) management has been vehemently opposed to.
Ives also added that there is "still a good chance" that Musk simply tries to walk away from the deal and pay the $1B breakup fee, but that would likely result in a long, drawn out court battle.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the European Union would further crack down on tech platforms such as Twitter (TWTR) to deal with fake accounts and "deepfakes" or incur heavy fines.