Photo courtesy of Pictofigo
As we mentioned earlier this month, Google Plus is dealing with some big changes. Not only is the head of Google Plus and Google social efforts leaving the company, but there are constant rumors that Google Plus is on a decline. But, what happens when one of Google Plus’s biggest competitor’s stock crumbles?
“What Twitter hoped wouldn’t happen did. Insiders cashed out, and its stock fell,” says Alex Wilhelm in a Tech Crunch article.
Twitter tanked more than 11 percent on May 6, 2014, the day a large quantity of Twitter stock unlocked. What happened was a bloodbath, says Wilhelm. In contrast, when another one of Google Plus’s rivals, Facebook, unlocked 800 million shares of its stock back in November 2012, the stock rose by 12 percent.
So why is Twitter feeling the burn? It could be the curse of the social media or tech companies that go public. It’s the “Post-IPO roller coaster.” Emerging tech stocks can be volatile.
Photo courtesy of Katrina Tuliao
“Stock fluctuation isn’t rare for newly public companies,” says Kurt Wagner in a Mashable article.“In just six short months, Twitter stockholders have been treated to the full, unpredictable Wall Street experience.”
Screenshot courtesy of Twitter
As he explains, first Twitter’s stock surged big time, jumping from $26 to $70 per share in December 2013. Then as Twitter’s employees attempted to sell their shares, there was some confusion. Investors are also upset about Twitter’s slow user growth rate. Twitter was supposedly aiming for 400 million users by the end of 2013, but there are approximately 255 million monthly users, according to .
Things may still turn around. Twitter is still up from its initial public offering price, and May 6 was a all around, not just for Twitter. AOL for one was down 22 percent, and Amazon and Yahoo dealt with problems as well, according to a Business Insider article.
Interestingly, Google also just recently filed papers to go public in late April 2014, after months of speculation. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Google plans to raise as much as $2.7 billion in an IPO which would rank it among the top 15 largest IPOs in U.S. history. It remains to be seen what the future holds for both Twitter and Google Plus, but one thing is for sure; it will certainly be a roller coaster.