BBC Learning English
Words in the News
Twitter shares jump
8 November 2013
_____________________________________________________
Shares in the microblogging site, Twitter, have nearly doubled in value in the first few
hours of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The share price rose above $45,
valuing the company at more than $25bn. The BBC's Mark Gregory reports.
It will go down as one of the most spectacular debuts in the history of financial markets.
Twitter has only been around seven years, has never made a profit and has modest
sources of income - yet its shares rose 80% in value the moment it joined the stock
market, and then briefly soared even higher than that.
Measured by the stock price in relation to revenues, Twitter's shares are now rated as
among the most expensive of any new share issue ever.
It's a big bet that popularity - Twitter already has 230 million users - will eventually lead
to massive profits.
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
go down become known
debuts first appearances; (here) launches
profit money earned after costs are paid
modest few and small
sources of income people or organisations which it gets money from
soared rose very quickly and very highly
revenue money which is received regularly
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/11/131108_witn_twitter.shtml
Related story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24851054
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com