GLOBAL – October 4, 2013 – Twitter has gone public, revealing its inner finances by releasing its S-1 filings, The Huffington Post reported on October 3.
Twitter said it intended to trade under the symbol "TWTR", and seeks to raise $1 billion. To become a publicly traded company, Twitter confidentially submitted its papers to the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 12.
Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, companies with less than $1 billion in revenue are allowed to work on IPO plans while keeping their finances private before they begin to pitch stock to investors.
"We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale," Twitter announced on September 12.
"Twitter, normally a tight-lipped company, is likely trying to avoid the controversy that embroiled Facebook after its stock began public trading," Dino Grandoni wrote on The Huffington Post.
Over 40 lawsuits have been filed against Facebook and Nasdaq due to losses related to its May 18 market debut, Hayley Tsukayama wrote on The Washington Post.
Twitter, a San Francisco-based microblogging site, was founded in 2006, and currently has over 215 million monthly active users.
In its prospectus, Twitter said they experienced rapid growth in revenue in recent periods: "From 2011 to 2012, revenue increased by 198% to $316.9 million, net loss decreased by 38% to $79.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 149% to $21.2 million. From the six months ended June 30, 2012 to the six months ended June 30, 2013, revenue increased by 107% to $253.6 million, net loss increased by 41% to $69.3 million and Adjusted EBITDA increased by $20.7 million to $21.4 million."
Going public could boost Twitter’s numbers, Owen Thomas wrote on tech news site ReadWrite. "It was inevitable that Twitter go public: It grew past the point where it was an easy acquisition for Google or Facebook years ago. But if Twitter’s executives play their cards right, the value it gets from being public could exceed the cash it raises from investors," Thomas wrote.
