Phew! That's the verdict in a tweet as Twitter leaves everyone smiling
Twitter shares launched without incident on Thursday, “skirting the troubles that plagued rival Facebook” last year, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported today, giving investors in the initial public offering (IPO) a hefty "pop".
Twitter: A healthy pop
It was the second-biggest US-listed internet offering ever after Facebook. Shares spent much of the day around $46 before closing at $44.90. Anthony Noto, the lead banker on the deal from Goldman Sachs tweeted: “Phew!”.
"They wanted this deal to work. They didn't want it to be in the penalty box like Facebook was for six months," said Christopher Baggini, senior portfolio manager at Turner Investments, that bought shares at the IPO price of $26.
Twitter raised around $2.1bn, with a market capitalisation of around $25bn – bigger than Kellogg's and Whole Foods Market, said the WSJ.