Stefan Mileschin

If 2012 was the year that financial analysts disgraced themselves by hyping Facebook's shareprice much higher than it should be, this year they are doing the same thing to Twitter.

Financial researcher Greencrest says that the company is prepping for an IPO next year and he thinks the share price is going to be a stonking $11 billion.

According to Forbes that ridiculous share price is based on an assumption that Apple will buy the company.

For years people have been wondering what Twitter is worth, but the Greencrest's $11 billion price tag is an indication of the hype which is to come.

The value is based on trading in secondary markets, but also on the basis of a rumour that Apple wants to buy the outfit.

However even if Jobs' Mob passes on the acquisition, Twitter's higher value still makes sense, Greencrest claimed.

The report claims that Twitter has been growing and there had been successful monetisation efforts.

Even so that is still a fair bit of growth in a depressed economy. In 2011 a new round of funding suggested it was worth $8 billion. After Facebook's dismal IPO the market became shy of such companies fearing an Internet bubble bursting.

It seems that the market has forgotten all this and is willing to trust the over enthusiastic calls of analysts.

It is a moot point if Twitter will even move to an IPO at all, let alone this year.

Co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey has long said he does not think of an IPO as an exit or a goal, but as more of a milestone.

http://news.techeye.net/business/twi...-already-begun