TWTR - Twitter, Inc

Since its inception in 2006, Twitter has quickly become a ubiquitous part of everyday life for millions worldwide. Developed by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Noah Glass as an online messaging platform with 140-character messages known as “tweets,” the impact it now has on politics, news and social connections is undeniable. This article will explore not only the journey that Twitter took from private to public company but also examine how various revenue sources allowed it to make more than 330 million monthly active users around the world possible.

Twitter Stock price from going public to going private again.

Twitter’s stock has had a somewhat volatile history since its IPO. Initially, the stock surged, reaching a high of over $73 in December 2013. However, the stock subsequently declined, hitting a low of around $14 in mid-2015. Going Public:
In 2013, Twitter launched its first initial public offering (IPO) which was heavily anticipated by tech investors around the world. As a result of keen interest among both individual and institutional investors, Twitter began trading on the New York Stock Exchange at an opening share price of $26. Before getting delisted Twitter stock traded at $53 per share.

TWTR Stock Price

As a publicly-traded company, Twitter is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol TWTR. Twitter’s market cap has varied significantly. In 2013, its market capitalization was $36.27 billion and climbed incrementally to reach $41.09 billion by 2023. However, 2020 proved to be remarkably successful for the social media giant—with a market capitalization of a staggering $43.06 billion, the highest ever seen for Twitter over the decade.

Accordingly the highest TWTR stock price was $77 and the lowest $14 while the highest price target assigned  was $112, it was given by analyst Heath Terry on 26 February 2021 and the lowest price target was $9 by Scott Devitt on 21 April 2021.

Revenue Sources:


Twitter generates the vast majority of its revenue from advertising that’s targeted towards the interests of its users. It also earns income through data licensing and co-branding deals, as well as its subscription product for businesses, Twitter Ads. It additionally packages their view data for research purposes through another subsidiary, Dataminr.

Twitter ranks among the biggest social networks worldwide. As of the second quarter of 2021, the company reported 206 million monetizable daily active users worldwide. In 2020, Twitter’s annual revenue came to 3.72 billion U.S. dollars. However, the company has only been able to report a positive net income in 2018 and 2019, revealing a struggle to monetize users. Twitter marketing and advertising Social media advertising spending in the United States is constantly growing. In 2019, the social media ad spend per U.S. internet user amounted to 129.1 U.S. dollars and this figure is projected to sharply increase to over 174 U.S. dollars by 2024. Along with Instagram, Twitter is a popular marketing channel and some brands and companies have made a name for themselves for being entertaining on Twitter. ”

Twitter’s revenue for the second quarter of 2022 amounted to over 1.17 billion U.S. dollars. The platform’s primary source of revenue is advertising, which accounts for the majority of the social network’s earnings. In addition to advertising, Twitter also generates revenue from data licensing and other sources.
Data licensing allows companies to access Twitter’s vast trove of data, which can be used for market research, customer engagement, and other purposes. Twitter’s other revenue streams include fees charged for certain services, such as promoted trends, as well as fees for access to its developer platform.

Despite Twitter’s large user base and significant revenue, the company has struggled to consistently report positive net income. In 2020, Twitter’s annual revenue came to 3.72 billion U.S. dollars, but the company has only been able to report positive net income in 2018 and 2019. This reveals a struggle to monetize its users effectively.
However, the social media advertising industry in the United States is rapidly growing, with social media ad spending per U.S. internet user projected to increase from $129.1 in 2019 to over $174 by 2024

Being Bought attempt 2016:
It was announced in 2016 that Twitter would be bought over by a consortium of several firms to become privatized again; however these plans were cancelled when a majority of shareholders disagreed to sign on. Similarly realized buyout bids proposed by technology companies such as Microsoft & Disney also never transpired due to unfavorable market conditions or valuation differences between buyer and seller expectation.

Political Controversies:
Due to being a perceived center of activity among many high visibility political events like United States Presidential election campaigns and Arab Spring uprisings worldwide, it has increasingly come under scrutiny as more content hosted within the platform have been seen to violate some national legislation while falling through regulation gaps created by inadequate boundaries set out in international treaties amongst nations on digital content across digital platforms & social media.
Over the years, Twitter has been widely implicated in various political disputes.

In 2016, its alleged contribution to spreading falsified news and propaganda prior to the US presidential election created uproar amongst citizens; prompting efforts from twitter itself aiming at curbing such occurrences. Even more recently came a debate over free speech when former President Donald Trump’s account was permanently deactivated after accusations of inciting violence in January 2021- causing reactions ranging from approval for combating hate speech to disapproval as censorship on users’ freedom of expression.

After a tumultuous period of negotiations, Elon Musk successfully acquired Twitter in late October 2022 for an estimated $44 billion. As part of the arrangement, Parag Agrawal and Ned Segal were removed from their respective positions as CEO and CFO; likewise, Mr. Musk is taking on the role of interim CEO following his purchase. This agreement followed months-long speculation that began with public announcements by both parties regarding large investments made by Mr. Musk back in April 2021 – before being paused due to technical concerns raised over spam bots within Twitter’s user base during contractual discussions between Twitter’s board and Musk’s representatives.