Twitter valued at $9.8 billion by GSV Capital’s investment, and that’s actually down from last year

GSV Capital Corp. values its shares in Twitter at around $18.50 per share, Bloomberg today reported, valuing the social service at – using a diluted share figure of 530 million – around $9.8 billion.

We know how GSV values its Twitter investment as it is a public company, and thus listed the following in its most recent 10Q:

This figure is large, but not surprising. Blackrock recently purchased shares from Twitter employees at a price that valued the company at $9 billion. The Wall Street Journal tried to make the case that Twitter was worth $10 billion using some odd math, but that the company is prized among investors is no secret.

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Twitter is said to be profitable, and is generally tipped to be on the road to an initial public offering.

That in mind, to see into the thoughts – regarding valuation – of one of its investors is revealing. GSV owns a mere 0.3% of the firm, but its filings represent a rare look into the current thought-worth of a private company.

This is a new wrinkle, however, as the above valuation of Twitter represents a decline. In the same 10Q, GSV notes that in the fourth calendar quarter of 2012, as compared to the first three months of 2013, it placed a higher value on its Twitter stock:

The share numbers are the same, but the ‘Fair Value’ figure falls. It’s a small change, down about 2.5% from earlier highs, but at the prior price, Twitter’s valuation would have crested the $10 billion mark. What caused the easing in Twitter’s price isn’t clear.

We checked back, and found that GSV valued Twitter at a lower price per share in December of 2011, around $16.46. However, the December 2012 figure listed above is consistent with how GSV valued Twitter in September of 2012. What this indicates is that GSV does recalibrate its valuation of Twitter on a per-share basis. The share price of Twitter remained the same between quarters three and four of 2012. The first quarter of 2013, however, recorded a decline. We are unsure as to what might have caused the dip.

For now, however, Twitter remains an exceptionally high-valued firm by those who have invested in it. If the public markets agree is what we will learn next.

Top Image Credit: Steve Snodgrass