After years of anticipation and months of hype, Twitter (TWTR +0.00%) finally went public. The IPO, as expected, had a big pop on its first day of trading. Underwriters priced the offering at $26, but the stock opened at $45.10 on Thursday.
Many argued that Twitter left a lot money on the table. Pricing the shares closer to the open would've raised another $1.3 billion for the micro-blogging speedster. Instead, that money went to the institutional clients that got in on the IPO before flipping them at healthy gains on shortly after Thursday's market open.
However, we can't call this a failure. Twitter certainly could have used the money, but it didn't really need it. Like many successful IPOs, Twitter can just offer up a secondary offering in a few months. Twitter also won't have to worry about the reputation hit that stings busted IPOs. That's important, especially for consumer-facing brands.
Welcome to the market, Twitter. Buckle up and enjoy the volatility.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- NVIDIA (NVDA +1.41%) saw revenue and adjusted earnings per share climb 8% and 13%, respectively, in its latest quarter. The results were enough to encourage the graphics-chip giant to boost its quarterly dividend.
- Tesla Motors (TSLA +3.95%) had a rough week. The stock took a hit when the market was disappointed with a quarterly report that saw Tesla delivering just 5,500 of its electric sedans. Then there was news of another Model S on fire. Tesla's been able to explain away the events, but it's got to be eating at the reputation of what Tesla bills as the country's safest vehicle.
- DISH Network (DISH +0.00%) chose to close down the nation's remaining 300 Blockbuster stores. It will continue to build the brand digitally, but it will be harder without a physical presence. Netflix (NFLX 0.35%) CEO Reed Hastings took advantage of the situation by digging up an analyst call from 2005 that recommended shorting Netflix all the way down to $3 and going long on the then-independent Blockbuster. Cross Hastings and be prepared to pay the price if you don't aim well.
