NYSE Conducts Successful Test IPO for Twitter

The New York Stock Exchange successfully conducted a test run for Twitter’s initial public offering on Saturday, aiming to prevent the technical difficulties that occurred during Facebook’s IPO on Nasdaq last year.

On that morning, traders and NYSE staff engaged in a simulated buying and selling of shares to minimize potential trading disruptions when Twitter’s shares become publicly available.

A spokesperson for the NYSE stated, “This morning’s systems test was successful, and we’re grateful to all the firms that chose to participate. We are being very methodical in our planning for Twitter’s IPO and are collaborating with the industry to ensure a world-class experience for Twitter, retail investors, and all market participants.”

Twitter plans to offer 70 million shares at a price ranging from USD 17 to USD 20, aiming to raise up to USD 1.6 billion. This offering will mark the largest technology IPO since Facebook went public in May 2012.

According to its IPO prospectus, Twitter currently has 218 million monthly users, with 500 million tweets being sent daily.

In contrast, Facebook experienced significant issues on its first day of trading on Nasdaq, causing many traders to remain uncertain for hours or even days regarding the completion of their trades. These delays contributed to a decline in Facebook’s share price, leading to a subsequent USD 10 million fine imposed on Nasdaq by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Twitter is expected to trade under the ticker symbol “TWTR” and may go public as early as November 7.