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Twitter, the micro-blogging phenomenon, has filed for an initial public offering with US regulators, taking the first step toward what would be Silicon Valley’s most anticipated debut since Facebook’s last year.
It filed for an IPO confidentially under a 2012 law intended to help emerging corporations with less than $1 billion in revenue go public.
Seven-year old Twitter, which allows users to send out streams of 140-character messages, has become an indispensable tool to governments, corporations and celebrities seeking to communicate with their audience and for individuals seeking both news and entertainment.
Chief executive Dick Costolo has for years waved off suggestions it intended to go public, saying the company remained flush with cash. Facebook’s mismanaged 2012 debut and subsequent share-price plunge also chilled the consumer-dotcom IPO market.
Facebook, however, has clawed its way back to its $38 IPO price in July, and the stock is at a record high after touching $45 last week.
Twitter, which has been valued by private investors at more than $10 billion, should break even this year and is on track for 40 per cent annual growth at a $1 billion annual revenue run rate, Max Wolff of Greencrest Capital estimated.
“It’s completely conquered mobile. It has an enormous social network. It’s becoming a key utility as a second screen to TV and it’s literally the first draft of history,” Wolff said. “Normally a company like Twitter would have been public for some time.”
