Facebook IPO: the $16 billion friend request
After years of rumor and waiting, Facebook has finally filed for its IPO, kicking off the process by which it will become a publicly traded company. The social networking behemoth has officially set its opening stock price at $38 per share, which confirms its $100+ billion valuation. Selling off its initial shares should raise a cool $16 billion.
Tipping point: Facebook's daily activity now bigger on mobile than desktop
Facebook beat the street in the fourth quarter of 2012, delivering revenue of $1.59 billion and earnings of 17 cents per share.
Wall Street was expecting revenue of $1.53 billion with earnings of 15 cents a share. That compares with $1.26 billion in revenues last quarter and adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share. If you looked at social network's non-adjusted earnings, the company failed to book any profit, recording a loss of $59 million last quarter.
If you look at the year-over-year...
Morgan Stanley reportedly fined $5 million by Massachusetts over Facebook IPO
Facebook's much-ballyhooed IPO quickly gave way to accusations and recriminations, and according to Bloomberg TV banker Morgan Stanley has now been fined by the State of Massachusetts in connection with the situation. It's not clear yet what issues the $5 million fine is redressing, but when Facebook's stock price tanked concerns were raised that some banks had told particular clients they had issues with the stock — potentially leaving regular investors holding the bag. While it's notable...
Lead plaintiffs in proposed Facebook IPO class-action lawsuit claim to have lost $7.1 million
A group of investors who collectively claim to have lost $7.1 million have been named as the lead plantiffs in securities lawsuits that state that Facebook misrepresented its financial conditions prior to its IPO this past May. As reported by Reuters, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet called the plaintiffs in the proposed class-action case "large, institutional investors with experience representing shareholder classes in similar litigation with the resources to pursue the action" — it...
Who is really to blame for Facebook's soft IPO?
The technology and financial industries were foaming at the mouth when Facebook was preparing to announce that it was going public earlier this year, an event that would represent the largest IPO ever for a web company. But even with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm, the company's performance in the stock market revealed a flurry of miscalculations and an overabundance of hype, ultimately leading to an all-time low value of $18.06 per share last Friday.
So should the company's chief executive take...
Web & Social
Facebook stock tumbles nearly ten percent: how low can it go?
Shares of Facebook fell 9.62 percent today, to $28.84, continuing the downward slide the company has been on since it went public two weeks ago at $38 a share. The steady decline has many investors wondering where the bottom is.
If Facebook traded at the same price-to-earnings ratio as its competitors for online advertising dollars — such as Google — the social network's stock would be worth somewhere between $16-20. Right now Facebook is trading at a P/E ratio of roughly 74 to 1. Google,...
Web & Social
Facebook stock drops below IPO price as NASDAQ glitches hurt retail demand
Facebook's massive initial public offering, the largest of any tech company to date, has caused no shortage of problems for both it and the NASDAQ stock exchange. After opening on Friday at $38, Facebook's stock is now down to $33.73. While there are several potential reasons for the drop, delays and glitches have made the trading process murky and difficult. NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifeld has admitted that Facebook's first day of trading "was not our finest hour," saying he was embarrassed by...
Web & Social
The Facebook story: from inception to IPO
Just over eight years after Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook in a Harvard dorm room, Facebook has officially gone public today. And, what better time to dig back into the company's history, as documented by everyone from The Harvard Crimson and The New Yorker to Zuckerberg himself? Whether you're figuring out whether to invest or want to see how the world's most popular social network has evolved, we've put together a special IPO day edition of the best writing about Facebook — and...
Facebook ends first day of public trading at $38.37
Facebook just ended its first day of public trading at a price of $38.37, a gain of just .97 percent after opening at $38. The closely watched debut of the company saw little fluctuation throughout the day, hovering right around that $38 mark all afternoon (with a high of $45). It has been widely reported that underwriters artificially kept the price from falling below the opening price of $38.
Zynga, another publicly traded company whose fate is intrinsically related to Facebook, saw its...
Web & Social
Tracking Facebook's first day of trading: a small rise, then a stumble
Shares of Facebook were supposed to start trading at 11:05 am today, but NASDAQ delayed that, and speculation is that heavy volume and too many sellers has prevented an actual start to open trading.
Several pairs of buyers and sellers were reportedly matched at $45, quickly dipping down to $42, which is about 10 percent over the strike price of $38 established in yesterday's IPO. The goal of the bankers who underwrite public offerings is to produce a healthy bump in price for their top...
Web & Social
Can Facebook live up to its $104 billion valuation?
Facebook’s $16 billion IPO values the young company at $104 billion, bigger than McDonald’s, Citigroup, and Amazon. Its debut on the stock market today caps a remarkable run for the eight-year-old social network. Begun in a Harvard dorm room, it is now one of the largest companies on the web in terms of its user base and global reach. Mark Zuckerberg has proven a ruthless leader with an eye for talent and ambition to match. But even as the company takes its turn in the Wall Street...
Mark Zuckerberg will ring NASDAQ opening bell this morning, on Facebook's IPO day
To commemorate the momentous day on which Facebook finally starts public trading, Mark Zuckerberg has been invited by NASDAQ to ring the stock exchange's opening bell. He won't actually be in the New York City stock market in person, instead he'll carry out the ceremonial duty remotely from Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters. That seems like a rather fitting way to perform the act for a company built upon the value of sharing and connecting over the internet.
NASDAQ trading begins at 9.30AM...
Facebook sets IPO at $38 a share, confirming $100 billion valuation
Back in November of last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook was hoping to be valued at $100 billion after its IPO, and it seems those ambitions have come true. Facebook just confirmed it has priced its initial public offering of 421,233,615 shares of stock at $38 per share. At that price, the company's market cap should be $104.12 billion in total, and the company should raise over $16 billion by selling those initial shares. They'll be on sale on NASDAQ starting tomorrow,...
Web & Social
Facebook approved to trade on Nasdaq days ahead of rumored Friday IPO
Facebook today inched closer to a long-awaited debut on Wall Street after its stock was approved for listing on the Nasdaq exchange. Form 8-A — signed by Chief Financial Officer David A. Ebersman — was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission just days before the calendar hits May 18th, the date many are expecting Facebook to begin public trading. Earlier today, CNBC reported via Twitter that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will ring the stock market's opening bell on Friday, all while...
Web & Social
Facebook IPO set for May 18th, says The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook will begin pitching its stock to investors starting Monday of next week, and should the social network be successful in obtaining interest, it will hold its initial public offering on May 18th. Apparently, that date isn't set in stone, as the publication's anonymous sources say Facebook might push things back a day or two either way, but it looks like the company is seeking to raise that cash sooner rather than later. Facebook originally filed for...
Web & Social
Facebook reports Q1 earnings: over 900m active users, Instagram cost $300m plus 23 million shares
Ahead of its IPO later this year, Facebook just released an updated Form S-1 with first quarter earnings that's now available for perusal in the SEC's filing system. Revenue is up considerably year over year — $1.06 billion versus $731 million a year ago — but net income is down a tad from $233 million to $205 million. The lower profit is attributed to just about everything in Facebook's financial sheet: operating and administrative costs, marketing, and R&D. Monthly active users of the...
Apps & Software
Mark Zuckerberg kept Facebook board out of Instagram negotiations, claims WSJ
How do billion-dollar deals get made in Silicon Valley? In the case of Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, the negotiation period was a mere weekend at Mark Zuckerberg's house, where he and Kevin Systrom, Instagram's cofounder and CEO, thrashed out a mutually agreeable valuation for the photo-sharing service. This is according to a Wall Street Journal report, which goes on to say that Zuckerberg informed Facebook's board of directors that he intended to spend $1 billion on Instagram on...
Policy & Law
Facebook preparing for IPO in May, says WSJ
Facebook filed its initial public offering (IPO) paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in early February, but The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claims the company is now preparing its IPO for May. Citing a person familiar with the matter, the WSJ says Facebook halted trading of its shares on the secondary markets this week — a move that could indicate it is seeking to put a figure on its shareholder count.
In its initial IPO papers, Facebook revealed it will trade under...
On The Verge Segment
Facebook IPO (On The Verge 004)
Facebook's IPO is a big deal — especially now that the $104 billion valuation is now trading. We went down to Wall Street to talk to people about Facebook and see if they would invest.
Facebook IPO facts and figures: the house that 100 petabytes built
Facebook's historic IPO filing has unveiled an entire side of the company that most have never seen — the business side, something that the company's bean counters will need to get accustomed to reporting every quarter. Here's some of the most interesting (and, in many cases, staggering) data we've seen so far.
- It has $1.5 billion in cash and "cash equivalents" presently at its disposal, along with $2.3 billion in marketable securities. Total assets on hand amount to $6.6 billion against t...
How Facebook makes money: 85 percent from ads, 12 percent from Zynga
We're digging through Facebook's SEC filing for details on the company in the wake of its IPO announcement and came across this shocker: fully 12 percent of the company's revenue comes from Zynga — both ads Zynga buys and payments processed in Zynga games. Facebook makes no bones that it is a risk for the company if Zynga runs into problems:
In 2011, Zynga accounted for approximately 12% of our revenue, which amount was comprised of revenue derived from payments processing fees related to...
Mark Zuckerberg's letter to investors on Facebook's 'social mission'
Buried in the midst of Facebook's IPO filing today is a lengthy, impassioned letter from CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. The message gives some insight into how Zuckerberg views the company, and its role in the world. We present the content to you below, unedited:
LETTER FROM MARK ZUCKERBERG
Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected.
We think it's important that everyone who invests in Facebook...
Web & Social
Facebook files for IPO, seeks to raise $5 billion
As expected, Facebook just filed its initial public offering paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, marking the beginning of its process to become a publicly traded company. It'll trade under the stock symbol "FB" (although it didn't specify on what exchange) and says that it seeks to raise some $5 billion in the process. When the stock hits the open market, the company will be valued somewhere around $100 billion after you take into account the shares that existing investors...
Facebook filing for $5 billion IPO Wednesday, says NYT
It's been rumored since November, but the New York Times reports that Facebook will file for its initial public offering tomorrow. The company is reportedly looking to earn about $5 billion in new capital by selling its stock on the open market for the first time — a number just half of the $10 billion rumors that have been floating around, but things could change "significantly" as the process gets underway.
All Things D is also reporting that Facebook's board of directors has been meeting...
WSJ: Facebook preparing to file for IPO as early as next Wednesday
Sources "familiar with the matter" have told The Wall Street Journal that Facebook is preparing to file papers for its initial public offering as early as February 1st. Facebook has long been rumored to be considering an IPO for early 2012, but has continued to decline comment on the matter. Sources say that the company is likely to pick Morgan Stanley to underwrite the launch — meaning it would be the taking the lead on assessing share value and approaching investors — but that other...
Web & Social
WSJ: Facebook considering IPO at $100 billion valuation for early 2012
The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook, a company that has stayed private longer than many expected, is eyeing an initial $10 billion public offering. Bloomberg notes a $10 billion IPO, which would value the company at over $100 billion and could come as soon as early 2012, would dwarf current record holder Infineon Technologies AG, which launched at $5.23 billion in 1999. This isn't the first we've heard of the company going public; CNBC also reported back in June that Facebook...
