SAN FRANCISCO — There's no other way to put it gracefully . Twitter's first day of trading so far has been a monster.
Monster, as in mind-boggling — not scary, like Facebook's IPO flop 18 months ago.
The 6-year-old micro-blogging service, fresh off a road show that drove up its stock price two times, stormed out of the IPO gates like a wild-eyed wolverine Thursday. The stock opened at $45.10 a share, after it was priced at $26 late Wednesday.Within minutes, it briefly touched $50.
With an initial market valuation of about $35 billion, Twitter is worth more — on paper — than LinkedIn and Netflix.
"What's not to like? There is incredible potential and investors are more open to social media companies now," says Tim Loughran, a University of Notre Dame finance professor who is an expert on tech IPOs. "There is a change in mindset on Internet IPOs."
If the big day proved anything, it is investors' unquenchable appetite for a hot IPO.
Twitter is the centerpiece of one of the most ravenous IPO markets in years. New offerings are at their highest level since 2007, propelled by a record-setting Dow Jones industrial average that is up 20% since Jan. 1. The easy-money policies of the Federal Reserve have fueled the resurgence.
So, how long does this rampaging beast continue to rumble markets, and frighten its social-media rivals?
For a few days, at least, based on the early feeding frenzy. Some are even whispering the B word, as in bubble.
Twitter provided that froth today.
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