Elon Musk angling for cut-rate deal on Twitter, analysts say

Elon Musk's $44 billion buyout of Twitter appeared to be on hold Friday after the Tesla CEO and world's richest person said he needed more information on how many bogus accounts are on the social media platform. 

But Wall Street isn't buying Musk's story, with analysts seeing the tweet as a tactic aimed at lowering the purchase price for Twitter at a time Tesla's falling stock price is denting Musk's personal wealth.

"Our view in a nutshell is that the $54.20 deal price for Twitter is now out the window in the Street's perspective, and [it's] about either driving a lower deal price or Musk could walk away," Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a research note.