Twitter files for billion dollar IPO

FILE - In this June 23, 2010 file photo, a Twitter sign hangs at the offices of Twitter Inc., in San Francisco. WikiLeaks said Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 that U.S. investigators have gone to San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. to demand the private messages, contact information and other personal details of Julian Assange and three people associated with the secret-spilling website. The popular micro-blogging site has declined comment. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Twitter revealed plans on Thursday to raise 1 billion dollars in an initial public offering, setting the stage for the most eagerly-awaited tech offering since Facebook’s over-hyped public launch in May 2012.

In financial documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the popular social networking site revealed that it had tripled its income in 2012 to 316.9 million dollars, but still lost 79.4 million dollars.

It lost even more money — 69 million dollars — in the first six months of 2013. But its ad revenues grew even more, reaching 254 million dollars compared to 122 million dollars in the year-earlier period.

Twitter said in September that it had filed IPO documents with the SEC. But under a new law for companies with less than 1 billion dollars of revenue, it was allowed to keep details of the offer under wraps until now.

The timing of the filing indicates that the shares could go on sale by November.

The company said it would list its stocks under the TWTR ticker symbol, but did not say whether it would trade on the New York Stock Exchange of the Nasdaq stock market.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the IPO.