What 16 Twitter analysts are saying about the depressing outlook and stock-price crash

"We do not expect to see sustained meaningful growth in [monthly active users] until we start to reach the mass market," Twitter's interim CEO Jack Dorsey warned. "We expect that will take a considerable period of time."

This gloom dominated the tone of Twitter's earnings announcement. Despite better-than-expected second-quarter profits, Twitter shares plummeted.

"We have not communicated why people should use Twitter nor made it easy for them to understand how to use twitter," Dorsey added.

"The bottom line for TWTR is that after nine years of its existence, my mother still doesn't understand what it means to 'hashtag' something, but she does understand what it means to 'like' something," Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter said. "That is to say that Twitter is still too difficult to use and inaccessible to too many."

The stock plunged 14.4% to $31.24 on Wednesday after the news. Is it time to buy?

Wall Street analysts covering Twitter are split. Of the 16 research notes read by Business Insider, eight analysts maintained a "buy" or "outperform" rating on the stock. The other eight were neutral. No one is saying to sell.

Here's some of what they had to say: