Crash! Twitter sinks to less than half its best price as IPO lockout expires
Twitter shares plunged to an all-time low yesterday after a post-IPO lock-up period that prevented employees and early investors from selling expired.
Twitter takes a hit
Lock-up periods prevent company insiders from selling stock following an initial public offering. CEO Dick Costolo and co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams had said that they had no plans to sell their stock when the lock-up expired, 180 days after Twitter's initial public offering.
Still, Twitter's stock fell nearly 18 percent Tuesday, closing at an all-time low of $31.85.
Twitter went public on Nov. 7. The stock later soared as high as $74.73 - well over double what the shares were fetching yesterday.
San Francisco-based Twitter's latest earnings report actually beat expectations, but worries about user growth and engagement pulled down its stock.