Twitter’s share price fell 18 per cent to an all-time low of $31.85 at the close of trading on Tuesday in New York, after insiders were able to sell stock for the first time since the social media company’s initial public offering in November.

Chief Executive Dick Costolo and co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams had promised to not immediately sell after the 180-day lockup, according to a statement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Still, Twitter shares experienced a steep sell-off on higher-than-usual volume.

Twitter went public in November at $26 per share. The price climbed to $73 in December.

Twitter’s lockup expired just a week after shares tumbled, after the company posted a net loss of $132 million for the first quarter, despite a 119-per-cent increase in sales. Membership reached 255 million, up 25 per cent year-over-year, falling short of analyst expectations.

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