推特首次公开募股（IPO），你该买它的股票吗?

 推特首次公开募股（IPO），你该买它的股票吗?

　　Another social media giant is going public. Twitter, the online micro-blogging service, launches its initial public offering (IPO) of stock on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.  Interest in owning a slice of the popular social networking site has been high - helping¹ to boost share prices nearly 25 percent higher ahead of its launch.  But should you buy into the hype?

　　It’s the biggest technology IPO since Facebook.  And if all goes as planned, Twitter could sell as many as 80 million shares priced between $23 to $25 apiece.  That would generate about $2 billion, giving Twitter a market value of $14 billion. But is it really worth it?

　　Professor Aswath Damodaran at the Stern School of Business in New York says the numbers are just a starting point - based on what bankers think investors² are willing to pay.

　　He spoke³ with VOA via Skype.

　　“They’re pricing Twitter based on what Facebook is trading for, and Linked-in is trading for.  They’re not valuing the company.  To value the company you’ve got to go back to basics:   What are the revenues, what are the margins⁴, what are the profits?  I personally think from a valuation perspective that 23 to 25 is too high," said Damodaran.

　　Damodaran says that doesn’t mean investors won't make money.  But unless you’re willing to monitor stock prices daily, he advises  amateur investors to stay away.

　　“I’d say wait for Twitter to settle down.  The first year or two after a company goes public, it’s really going to go through waves of momentum⁵ that are very difficult to forecast. So you have to make a decision whether you’re a trader or an investor," he said.

　　Part of the problem is that Twitter has yet to prove it can make a profit.  And despite its large user base, it still lags behind other social networks, says market analyst⁶ Nate Elliott.

　　"According to our survey data, less than one-fourth of U.S. online users go to Twitter every month. It's not a bad number, but it's far behind what Facebook claims as active users in the U.S.," said Elliott.

　　The challenge for Twitter is not just how it expands but how it generates enough advertising⁷ revenue - without driving away 230 million users worldwide.

　　Whether Twitter can do that remains⁸ to be seen.

　　Facebook, which made its public debut⁹ amid intense hype last year, lost nearly half its value in the first four months.  It’s now trading about 30 percent higher than when it first  launched.  Experts say Twitter could go through similar growing pains.  So before you buy, wait for the dust to settle.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。