Twitter stock dipped a bit on Wednesday as Wall Street eagerly awaited an update on the social-media firm's talks with Elon Musk about his proposal to move forward with his $44 billion acquisition.
With Musk once again willing to purchase Twitter (ticker: TWTR) for $54.20 a share rather than try his luck in court, lawyers for Tesla's $(TSLA)$ CEO and Twitter's lawyers will need to hash out what that means for their legal battle. The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported both sides were continuing talks about closing the deal on Wednesday. The report added that the sides hoped to have an agreement soon.
"We believe this will be closed by next week and minimal speed bumps ahead to close," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told Barron's via email. "Musk should own Twitter by next week."
In the meantime, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick wrote to counsel for both sides that neither party has moved for a stay. "I, therefore, continue to press on toward our trial set to begin on Oct. 17, 2022," Chancellor McCormick wrote.
Twitter declined to comment. Representatives for Musk's legal team did immediately not return a request seeking comment.
Ives wrote that it would be a major snafu for the deal if the trial goes ahead.
Twitter stock fell 1.4% to close at $51.30 on Wednesday. That's still a slight discount to Musk's $54.20 offer.