If Twitter‘s bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock’s public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73% above its initial offering price.
In what’s expected to be a volatile day, the stock is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TWTR.” It’s the most highly anticipated initial public stock offering since Facebook debuted last year.
The opening price values Twitter at $31 billion, which puts it in in range of KFC and Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands, tractor and tool maker Deere & Co. and slightly below State Street Corp., a financial services holding company.
Earlier in the day, Twitter gave users the opportunity to ring NYSE’s opening bell instead of executives. The users included Sir Patrick Stewart, Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Vivienne Harr, a 9-year-old girl who ran a lemonade stand for a year to raise money to end child slavery and Cheryl Fiandaca of the Boston Police Department.
Twitter’s initial public offering, has been carefully orchestrated to avoid the glitches and eventual letdown that surrounded Facebook’s initial public offering on the Nasdaq 18 months ago. Still, it’s the most highly anticipated IPO since its Silicon Valley rival’s 2012 debut.
On Wednesday, Twitter had set an IPO price of $26, which valued the company at more than $18 billion based on its outstanding stock, options and restricted stock expected to be available after the IPO. That already put it above Macy’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. Facebook Inc.’s value, meanwhile, stood at $104 billion at the time of its IPO.
Tempering expectations was a big theme in the weeks leading up to Twitter’s IPO, but that all but flew out the window with the stock’s opening surge.
The company tried to avoid the trouble that plagued Facebook’s high-profile offering. Facebook’s public debut was marred by technical glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Nasdaq $10 million, the largest ever levied against an exchange. Those problems likely led Twitter to the NYSE.
Twitter is also likely hoping for a first-day pop of its shares that eluded Facebook’s stock. Facebook’s shares closed just 23 cents above their $38 IPO price on their first trading day. They traded below $38 for more than a year.
Still, $18 billion is a lofty valuation for Twitter compared with its peers. At its IPO price, Twitter valued at roughly 28 times its projected 2013 revenue _$650 million based on its current growth rate. In comparison, Facebook trades at about 16 times its projected 2013 revenue, according to analyst forecasts from FactSet. Google Inc. meanwhile, is trading at about 7 times its net revenue, the figure Wall Street follows that excludes ad commissions.
