Today, arguably the biggest and most popular social media company went to market. Twitter, the hub of information and gossip, is now one of the highest trending topics. Operating for over 7 years with its current 230 million users it is at its peak... but still it has been yet to make a profit.
Although more of an online service than business it has finally come into trouble financially. In the third quarter of 2013 its losses rose to $64.6m, this has tripled since its last loss. Clearly Twitter had to make some big decisions and so this is where they are at; good news for them is that they were reported to have been able to raise the value of each share before going to market, due to demand. Right now, each share is selling at $26 each; and they have 70 million of them to sell.
Image: www.mysocialagency.com
Co-founder Evan Williams is still the largest shareholder with 10%. But who else is buying?
Speculatively, a lot of the people who are putting their money forward for this are really focusing on Twitters worth online; how it has made itself indispensible in today’s online market. It offers something that people feel they need right now and it does not seem to have any direct competitors anywhere near its league.
The people who believe in this have most likely been monitoring Twitters progress and potential market worth for a long time. Predictions into its futures may well pay off for those who put their money where their mouth is and it is these serious stockbrokers who will be taking their risks today.
The projection looks good and their predicted value is set at $18 bn, possibly set to rise. By the end of the evening we will be looking at something that could potentially be incredibly beneficial for the people who took interest
.
Image: technology.inquirer.net
A good comparative model of course would be Facebook. In May 2012 Facebook made itself available on the stock market and similar concerns were hatched but again nothing could be definite. You can understand why these businesses must adapt and for Facebook it was generally a success.
Twitters actions can be compared to this former model but like social media itself, the stock market changes instantaneously. Twitter have opted to use the New York Stock Market, unlike Facebook, and a trial was set up for them. All the provisional work has been put in place but it’s a testy place to be, and now no longer in their hands.
The forbidden word ‘advertising’ is hanging just a little above this entire issue but nothing seems to have been confirmed. As it is still early days I feel Twitter are going to have to roll with the punches and see what happens now.
Image: www.complex.com
If you want to become a shareholder of Twitter they are on ‘NYSE’ trading under the name of ‘TWTR’.
Do you do your companies social media or do you use a management company?
