Twitter shares in free fall as six month stock lockup period ends
TWITTER’S shares plummeted 17.81 per cent yesterday as the six-month lockup period that had restricted the sale of around 82 per cent of its stock expired.
Shares closed at $31.85 down from a high of $73.31 in December and near Twitter’s $26 listing price.
While Twitter sold only 70m shares during its initial public offering, some 470m shares were now freely tradeable – largely from employees and suppliers who had been paid in shares for years.
The sell off came despite some of Twitter’s largest shareholders – including founders Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey, and chief executive Dick Costolo with a combined 88m shares – who committed not to sell immediately after the lockup.
Twitter’s shares have been trading at all-time lows since 29 April when the company disclosed sagging usage metrics in its results.
Despite hitting its revenue targets in the two quarters since it went public, concerns about user growth and engagement have wiped out half of the firm’s market value since December.