Twitter Inc.’s continued survival may rely on Donald Trump, an analyst said.

Shares of Twitter TWTR, -0.63% have fallen 37% in the past three months, as Chief Executive Jack Dorsey battles to monetize the social-media platform and make it easier to understand for new users. To accomplish those goals, Twitter needs to think of the platform as a “media destination” instead of a social network and recognize the value of public figures, such as Trump, engaging with an audience, said James Cakmak, an analyst with Monness, Crespi & Hardt.

Twitter stock soared as much as 10% Monday morning amid chatter of a possible deal for the San Francisco company. Meanwhile, Trump was seeking to fire up his nearly 6 million followers ahead of the Iowa caucus, the first official votes to be cast in the Republican nomination fight.

Cakmak has a $35 target price and buy rating for Twitter, which he said has been “the most challenging buy rating” he’s covered because of the buzz of negativity around the company.

“If Twitter can improve the product and deliver a more cohesive messaging of its utility, then the tides can turn,” the analyst wrote.

One of the key improvements involves latching onto the momentum of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as his tweets frequently become part of debates and political discourse, Cakmak said.

“He has single-handedly kept Twitter in the news flow every single day,” Cakmak said. “We contend Twitter should find a way to take advantage of this opportunity to serve as a new traffic vehicle.”

That means placing Twitter in the middle of debates, as well as other live events, to grow its audience, Cakmak wrote. Trump’s viral tweets also underscore what Cakmak said is one of the most valuable parts of Twitter — engaging with public figures in an unfiltered way.

Twitter could use celebrities to bring in an even wider audience by allowing greater incorporation of Twitter-owned platforms such as Vine. Recently, Twitter did integrate Periscope videos directly into the platform on Apple Inc. AAPL, -1.59% mobile devices.

Overall, Cakmak said Twitter needs to move away from its emphasis on being a social platform, by improving the experience for logged-out Twitter users so that they can see top tweets, similar to a news site homepage, and make tweeting “secondary” to consuming news on the platform.