Twitter IPO prices at $26 per share, above estimates

Twitter priced at USD 26 per share for its initial public offering, the company said on Wednesday.

Earlier, underwriters involved with the Twitter IPO aimed to price the social network's stock at USD 27, barring any last-minute hitches, according to three people familiar with the matter. Read more: Will Twitter IPO pop? Hedge funds weigh in
The original expected range of USD 23 to USD 25 per share. With 70 million shares to be issued, the company — which is not yet profitable — will raise USD 1.82 billion, valuing the company at USD 18.3 billion, fully diluted.
"The fact that they started with a range, they were able to raise it and they were able to price it above the range means that there was unprecedented demand, lots of demand for this IPO and we'll see how well they do tomorrow," said Carol Roth, a former investment banker and CNBC contributor, on Wednesday evening after Twitter's stock priced.
The social media company said in its statement that it has also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 10.5 million additional shares of common stock.
Goldman Sachs is serving as the lead underwriter for the Twitter IPO, alongside Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. Read more: Stay away from Twitter, advisors say in survey
The stock is set to begin trading on Thursday and will trade under the stock symbol "TWTR" on the New York Stock Exchange.
But as Twitter becomes a publicly traded company, some investors are remaining cautious and passing on the IPO in order to get a better sense of how the company will fair in the public markets.
"We're not as confident the business model will be as broad or as successful as a Facebook or a Google," said Channing Smith of Capital Advisors Growth Fund on CNBC Wednesday.
"We still have to see this management team perform and how they act as a public company and we have to see if the advertising initiatives stick."