Twitter shares rose 73 per cent in the first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the company a market value of $25 billion.

The stock closed at $44.90 per share, slightly lower than the peak of $50, but significantly higher than the opening price of $26. The company offered 70 million shares, 13 per cent of the company’s common shares.

Twitter could potentially raise as much as $2.1 billion, making it the second-largest internet IPO in the US after Facebook’s $16 billion debut in 2012 and ahead of Google in 2004.

In its IPO filing in October the company said it planned to raise $1 billion from the public offering, despite recurring losses. In the first half of 2013, the company made a net loss of $69 million despite generating $254 million in revenue.

The filing also emphasised the importance of mobile revenue for Twitter’s future prospects: “Mobile has become the primary driver of our business,” the company said.

In the three months to end-June 2013, over 65 per cent of its advertising revenue was generated from mobile devices, while 75 per cent of its average monthly active users accessed the service from a handset or tablet. And these proportions are expected to grow in the future, it said.

With 230 million users, Twitter is seen by many as a vital online tool with huge potential as a global advertising platform. However, Twitter previously cited its dependence on advertising revenue as one of the risk factors for potential investors.