After much debate about setting a final price, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s initial public offering is officially priced at $26 per share. The company debuts on the New York Stock Exchange in less than two hours.
Twitter valued at $14.2 billion
With a $26 per share opening price, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is valued at $14.2 billion, according to Julianne Pepitone of CNN Money. The micro-blogging site initially set its IPO price range at between $17 and $20 per share, but then earlier this week it raised the range to between $23 and $25 per share. It was reported after the price range was increased that Twitter may even exceed that range, and Twitter certainly did, probably because of high demand for its shares.
Twitter Inc (TWTR) is trying to raise $1.8 billion in its IPO by selling 70 million shares.
What happens at Twitter’s IPO
Keep in mind that the $26 per share price probably won’t hold for long, if at all. That amount is actually what investors paid to Twitter’s underwriters when they sold shares ahead of the IPO. There were reports that the underwriters had to stop taking orders before Wednesday because they sold all they had. The sold shares were released to investors who purchased them last night, and today at the IPO, Twitter’s underwriters can choose to buy 10.5 million more shares from the company.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s stock ticker goes live on Google at 8:30 Eastern and the New York Stock Exchange when it opens at 9:30 Eastern this morning. However, it’s very likely that the company’s shares won’t start trading immediately. It often takes an hour or more for shares that have been newly listed to start actively trading on the day they debut at the stock exchange.
How high will Twitter go?
There’s no telling just how high shares of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) will go on their opening day or what demand for them will be like. The company’s underwriters are reportedly hoping for an opening price of $40 or even more a share today, so we’ll just have to see what happens. If the opening price goes that high, the delay for Twitter shares to begin actively trading could go as late as 2 p.m. Twitter’s underwriters have been said to be preparing a contingency plan just in case the opening price goes “dramatically” over $40 a share.
Numerous analysts have weighed in on the IPO, and most are positive on the company. All of Wall Street is hoping that Twitter’s debut goes more smoothly than Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s did last year.
