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Tag: Facebook Stock

  • Facebook Stock Opens at All Time High

    Facebook Stock Opens at All Time High

    On the heels of a strong earnings report, Facebook stock soared in after hours trading and has carried that momentum into pre-market trading, hitting an all-time high.

    Wednesday afternoon, Facebook released its Q2 earnings, reporting revenue of $2.91 billion – up 61 percent year-over-year. Revenue from advertising was up 67 percent, with 62 percent of that coming from mobile. COO Sheryl Sandberg announced that the company now has over 1.5 million active advertisers.

    “We had a good second quarter. Our community has continued to grow, and we see a lot of opportunity ahead as we connect the rest of the world,” said Zuckerberg.

    Not only was revenue up (beating expectations), but user totals also climbed in the second quarter. Facebook now boasts 1.32 billion monthly active users, up 14 percent year-over-year.

    All of this pushed stock to the brink of an all time high at close on Wednesday at $71.29 (the stock hit $72 in March, only to fall a bit over the past few months).

    But now, Facebook stock has in fact hit an all-time high. Shares were set to open as high as $78.13 (nine percent higher) in pre-market trading, but have now officially opened the day around $76.

    Quite a long way from August of 2012, when the stock price was flailing and resided somewhere in the upper teens. Show the street you can make money (especially with mobile advertising), and oh how things can change.

  • Facebook Offers 70 Million More Shares, Heads To Court Over IPO

    Facebook announced on Thursday that it is offering 70,000,000 new shares of its Class A common stock, with 27,004,761 shares being offered by the company itself and 42,995,239 shares being offered by certain selling stockholders, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is offering 41,350,000 shares.

    The company plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and “other corporate purposes.” The company won’t receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by stockholders, but expects that the majority of the net proceeds Zuckerberg will receive “will be used to satisfy taxes he will incur in connection with his exercise, in full, of an outstanding stock option to purchase 60,000,000 shares of Class B common stock.”

    J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Barclays are serving as joint bookrunners for the offering, with BNP Paribas, Citigroup, RBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Piper Jaffray serving as co-managers.

    Starting at the close of trading on Friday, Standard & Poor’s plans to include Facebook Class A common stock in the S&P 500 index. Shares will be offered primarily to index funds whose portfolios are based on stocks included in the index, Facebook says.

    Facebook stock is on the decline in pre-market trading.

    On Thursday, a judge ruled that Facebook and numerous banks will have to face a lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors about its health ahead of its IPO.

    Reuters shares a statement from Facebook: “We continue to believe this suit lacks merit and look forward to a full airing of the facts.”

    Meanwhile, Facebook begins running a potentially major source of revenue today with its new autoplay video ads, which it thinks can give television advertising a run for its money.

    Image: Mark Zuckerberg

  • Facebook Stock Tops $50 for the First Time

    Facebook’s stock price hit an important milestone Thursday, crossing the $50 barrier for the first time. That’s more than $12 higher than the IPO price and over $32 more than the stock’s price at its lowest point back in August of 2012.

    It’s not just an important milestone, but an impressive one considering where Facebook’s stock price was just a year ago. It’s been a long battle back for the company, whose initial public offering was met with enthusiasm back in May of 2012. But that enthusiasm quickly turned to concern, as investors worried about Facebook’s perceived inability to monetize – especially in the fast-growing mobile space.

    In the stock chart above, you’ll see a distinctive point in which Facebook’s stock price jumped. That spike correlates with Facebook posting strong Q2 earnings. Revenue from advertising shot up from 61% in Q2 2012 to 88%. More importantly, mobile ad revenue accounted for 41% of Facebook’s ad total ad revenue for the quarter – up 11% year-over year.

    Facebook reported total revenue of $1.81 billion.

    Investors bullish on Facebook’s potential cite these figures, as well as reported future ad units as reasons to trust in Zuck and crew. As you know, Facebook is on the precipice of rolling out a large video ad network which could see advertisers pay up to $2.5 million per day to run short video ads on users’ newsfeeds.

    Of course, it will all depend on the new numbers. Facebook reports Q3 earnings next month.

    Image via Facebook investor relations

  • Facebook Stock Rallies, Nearly Hits Its IPO Price

    For the first time since the IPO, Facebook stock approached $38 a share today.

    It didn’t actually hit that significant number (that’s what the stock started out at back in May) – but it came close. Really close. Its high for the day was $37.96 – an increase of nearly 7% from its opening.

    For Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of Facebook family, this must feel pretty good. After debuting strong in May 2012 – hitting $45 shortly after the IPO, Facebook’s stock began to fall, and fall hard. At its low point in August of 2012, the stock price dipped below $18 – less than half of the original price. The most cited reason for Facebook’s problems was a distrust from investors – mainly Facebook’s inability to monetize mobile. Sure, users continued to grow – but for the Street, it was all about those advertising successes (and lack thereof).

    This recent uptick in Facebook’s stock began last week, when the company posted strong Q2 earnings with a revenue of $1.81 billion. Revenue from advertising shot up from 61% in Q2 2012 to 88%. More importantly, mobile ad revenue accounted for 41% of Facebook’s ad total ad revenue for the quarter – up 11% year-over year.

    That seemed to be the impetus, and Facebook’s stock began to climb.

    Here’s what Facebook’s stock has looked like over the past month or so. I guess you can call it a comeback.

    Also, Facebook announced today that they are starting a new mobile game publishing program – one that will generate even more revenue. And according to reports, those long-rumored video ads are soon coming to your news feed at $2.5 million a pop.

  • Facebook Stock Tops $30 for First Time in Months

    Doesn’t adjust your monitors, Facebook stock is on the move.

    It’s been a long climb back, but Facebook shares currently sit at over $30, up around $1.40 as of now. That’s an increase of nearly 5%.

    Of course, “back” is a relative term. To be truly “back” to IPO levels, Facebook would beed to hit their opening mark, which was $38. But I’m sure there are plenty of people that are pretty happy to see Facebook crack $30 for the first time in nearly six months.

    As you know, it’s been a rocky road for Facebook’s stock price since the May IPO. In August, after weeks of sliding, the price hit its all-time low of $17.55, less than 50% of the original price. It saw a significant bounce after the company’s Q3 earnings report, which saw $1.26 billion in revenues, a number that beat analysts’ expectations.

    Since then, it’s been rising. Not entirely steadily, as there have been some hiccups. But now it sits at over $30:

    Facebook has just sent out invites for a mysterious event scheduled for next week at their Menlo Park Campus. According to the invitations, they want us to “come and see what they’re building.”

    Facebook will report their Q4 2012 earnings on January 30th.

  • Zuckerberg Gives $500M in Facebook Stock to Charity

    Zuckerberg Gives $500M in Facebook Stock to Charity

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is apparently in the Christmas spirit. A few hours ago, he announced the he was donating a hefty amount to a local charity. That donation is coming in the form of Facebook stock – a boatload of it.

    “Today, in order to lay the foundation for new projects, we’ve made a contribution of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Together, we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to have as positive an impact in our next set of projects,” said the Facebook CEO in a post on Facebook.

    The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a philanthropic trust organization, who says that they “provide visionary community leadership by identifying emerging challenges in our region; address those challenges through our grantmaking programs, our research and our ability to bring together diverse groups of problem-solvers; and build and energize a community of philanthropists who strengthen the common good.”

    His gift of 18 million shares of Facebook stock is just shy of $499 million considering Facebook’s current share price of $27.71.

    “Two years ago, Priscilla and I signed The Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of the money we earn to charity. Our first major project has been around education reform with Startup: Education in Newark, NJ. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done there, helping leaders like Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Cory Booker sign the most progressive teachers contract in our country, opening four new district high schools, 11 new charter schools and more,” said Zuckerberg.

    The Giving Pledge is a campaign to make sure the richest people in the U.S. give “most of their wealth” to charitable causes. It is spearheaded by Warren Buffet and Bill & Melinda Gates.

  • Facebook Stock Down On NASDAQ 100 Debut

    Facebook Stock Down On NASDAQ 100 Debut

    Facebook stock didn’t have a great day today, as the company debuted on the NASDAQ 100.

    The NASDAQ 100 includes 100 of the biggest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on the NASDAQ based on market capitalization. Computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology are all represented.

    Infosys left the index making room for Facebook, which Facebook now makes up about 1% of it, according to The Wall Street Journal.

    Facebook stock had been trending upward prior to the debut. As of the time of this writing, it’s at $27.58 (-0.40, -1.43%).

    The company did confirm today that Instagram, which it recently acquired, will be getting ads, so there’s another monetization avenue for the company, which can’t hurt. The company seems to want to keep people seeing images on Instagram itself too, considering the recent goings-on with Twitter.

  • Sheryl Sandberg Sells Nearly a Million Facebook Shares

    Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has just sold nearly a million shares of Facebook stock, netting her just over $26 million.

    According to an SEC filing, Sandberg sold 946,588 shares, which came out to be $26.2 million. The shares were sold at prices ranging from $27.30 to $27.90 a share. On Friday, that day that Sandberg sold off her shares, Facebook closed at $27.49 a share. Facebook stock has been on the rebound after going through a rough patch back a couple of months ago. At one point, the stock plunged into the high teens. At the IPO, the stock began at $38 a share.

    Sandberg, who has served as Facebook COO since 2008, just recently became the first female member of the company’s Board of Directors.

    This is Sandberg’s biggest Facebook stock sale ever. In her previous two sales, the Facebook COO sold $4.2 million worth of shares and $7.4 million.

    You can see the official SEC filing here.

  • Facebook Stock Jumps As New Shares Become Available, Winklevoss Twins Hold On To Millions Of Shares

    Facebook Stock Jumps As New Shares Become Available, Winklevoss Twins Hold On To Millions Of Shares

    Facebook shares jumped on Wednesday as 800 million new shares became eligible for sale as the latest in a series of lockups expired. Shares closed at $22.36.

    The New York Times reports that Andreesen Horowitz, one of the company’s biggest investors, sold over 4.6 million shares within an hour of close. Most of these shares were reportedly the firm’s shares in Instagram, which Facebook recently acquired. The firm still has 3.6 million shares in Facebook.

    Those shares that became eligible for sale includes those held by the Winklevoss Twins. TMZ reports that they’re holding onto their shares (some of them at least):

    The twins own close to 6 million shares of FB stock — now worth around $125 mil — and they were free to trade their stock starting today. But we’ve learned … they will only unload $1 million worth of stock, which they will use as seed money to fund their new venture — an e-commerce website called Hukkster.com. The website tracks your favorite products and alerts you when they go on sale.

    The Winklevii are investing in a new online shopping startup called Hukkster. More on that here.

    As of the time of this writing, shares are trading at $21.97. At the time of the IPO, Facebook shares opened at $38.

    Image: Cameron Winklevoss’ Facebook page

  • Facebook Stock Dips A Bit After Big Post-Earnings Release Boost

    Facebook saw its biggest jump since May (when the company launched its IPO) on Wednesday, following the release of its earnings report, and the company’s comments about monetization on Tuesday.

    Facebook emphasized how big mobile is, and how it’s likely to grow into significantly more revenue. “We’re just getting started,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg, with regards to monetization.

    “As proud as I am that a billion people use Facebook each month, I’m also really happy that over 600 million people now share and connect on Facebook every month using mobile devices,” he said. “People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform. At the same time, we are deeply integrating monetization into our product teams in order to build a stronger, more valuable company.”

    The company reported $1.26 billion in revenues, beating analysts’ expectations.Revenue from advertising was $1.09 billion for the quarter (a 32% year-over-year jump), and 14% of that came from mobile. That number is likely to grow in coming quarters.

    At one point, shares were up by as much as 21% at $24. As of the time of this writing, they’re starting to trickle down a bit, currently sitting at $22.77 (-0.46‎, -1.99%‎).

    Facebook stock has performed notoriously bad in general since the IPO. The low for the company, so far, is $17.55. Shares debuted at $38.

  • Facebook Stock Up Over 20% Post-Earnings Report

    It looks like Facebook investors liked what they saw out of Tuesday evening’s Q3 earnings report. As of right now, Facebook stock sits at just under $24 a share, which is up over 4.2 points from close yesterday.

    For the lazy, that’s an over 21% increase.

    Facebook posted their Q3 earnings yesterday after close, and their $1.26 billion in revenues beat analysts’ expectations. In his earnings calls, CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that the company is “just getting started” when it comes to monetizing mobile, and that many people have misunderstood Facebook’s mobile potential. Of course, one of the main issues making investors skittish on Facebook is their troubles monetizing their mobile product – which is obviously what users are trending toward.

    Facebook reported that revenue from advertising was $1.09 billion, which is up 32% year-over-year. 14% of that ad revenue came from mobile. Facebook posted a net loss of $59 million.

    But on the heels of that report, here’s the current state of Facebook stock:

    Facebook stock post Q3 earnings

    The last time Facebook stock saw a big jump was in early September when comments made by Zuckerberg reassured investors, and the price jumped as much as 7.7%. Facebook’s possible venture into search was one of the things that tickled Wall Street’s fancy.

    In late August, the price took an epic dive to sub-$18. The 52-week low for the company is $17.55. As you remember, Facebook shares debuted at $38 back in May.

  • Facebook Stock Jumps After Zuckerberg’s Comments

    Facebook Stock Jumps After Zuckerberg’s Comments

    On Tuesday evening, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made his first public speaking appearance since the company’s IPO. Investors seemed to like what he had to say, because the company’s shares jumped as much as 7.7% in Wednesday trading.

    Zuckerberg spoke at the TechCrunch Disrupt event, in an interview with Michael Arrington. The biggest take away we got from it was that Facebook is doing search, which could mean really big things for investors down the line.

    “We’re basically doing 1 billion queries a day and we’re not even trying,” Zuckerberg is quoted as saying.

    He’s also quoted as saying, “Facebook is pretty uniquely positioned to answer the questions people have. At some point we’ll do it. We have a team working on it,” and “Search engines are really evolving to give you a set of answers, ‘I have a specific question, answer this question for me.’”

    He also indicated that Facebook will be making a lot more money on mobile than on desktop. He’s quoted as saying, “We’re going to execute this mission to make the world connected and build value over the long-term. The bigger question that will define how we’ve done is how we do with mobile.”

    According to Zuckerberg, mobile users are more likely to be daily active users.

    Of course, Apple’s iOS 6 is about to be pushed to users, and that comes with a nice dose of Facebook integration, which should be huge for Facebook mobile engagement.

    As of the time of this writing, Facebook shares are at 20.81 -0.12‎ (-0.58%‎).

  • Mark Cuban Admits He Lost Money on Facebook

    On the eve of Facebook’s big IPO, Mark Cuban predicted that the public offering could be the “most important” in history – but not for the reasons you might think. Cuban thought brand excitement would bring in retail investors who wouldn’t read the prospectus, and would then be chewed up by high frequency/algorithmic traders, who would “attack this stock like a pack of wolves.”

    Today, with Facebook stock creeping to under half of its initial offering price, Cuban admits that even he lost money trading Facebook stock. Like many others, Cuban expected Facebook stock to bounce upward, which never happened. From a post on Cuban’s blog:

    I bought and sold FB shares as a TRADE, not an investment. I lost money. When the stock didn’t bounce as I thought/hoped it would, I realized I was wrong and got out. It wasn’t the fault of the FB CFO that I lost money. It was my fault. I know that no one sells me shares of stock because they expect the price of the stock to go up. So someone saw me coming and they sold me the stock. That is the way the stock market works. When you sit at the trading terminal you look for the sucker. When you don’t see one, it’s you. In this case it was me.

    In that same post, Cuban made it clear that he doesn’t begrudge Facebook its high initial offering price, the way many investors now do. He points out that the Facebook CFO was right to price the stock as high as possible, as Facebook ended up raising $10 billion. Cuban blames individual investors and brokers who didn’t read the prospectus for their own losses, and states that no one cares about traders, like himself, who were “hoping for a pop.”

  • Zuckerberg Pledge Helps Facebook Stock

    Zuckerberg Pledge Helps Facebook Stock

    Yesterday, news came out that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged not to sell any Facebook shares for at least a year. In addition to that, Board members Marc Andreessen and Don Graham will not sell any shares, other than what they may sell to cover taxes on RSUs.

    This information came from an 8-K document filed with the SEC.

    Facebook shares were up 5% at one point on Wednesday, following the news. As of the time of this writing, shares are at $18.81, up 1.24%‎.

    “We have adopted an ‘Insider Trading Policy’ that governs the trading of our securities by our directors, officers, employees and consultants,” the company said in the document. “Pursuant to the terms of that policy, all of our executive officers, as well as other members of our senior management team, are required to conduct any purchase or sale transactions in our securities through atrading plan established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 (‘Rule 10b5-1 Plans’) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Under the company’s current policies, Rule 10b5-1Plans can be entered into only during an open trading window and are subject to a ‘cooling-off’period before any sales or purchases may occur pursuant to such a Plan.”

    “We understand that two of our non-employee directors, Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham, intend to satisfy taxes incurred in connection with the vesting or settlement of their RSU awards by effecting sales of our common stock,” the document continued. “Any such sales will be conducted through Rule 10b5-1 Plans adopted in accordance with our securities trading policies.Other than such tax-related sales, Mr. Andreessen and Mr. Graham have no present intention to sell any shares of our common stock held by them personally.”

    “As of the date of this report, Mark Zuckerberg has not adopted a Rule 10b5-1 Plan and has informed us that he has no intention to conduct any sale transactions in our securities for at least 12 months,” it said. “Mr. Zuckerberg currently holds in aggregate approximately 444 million shares of Class B common stock as well as 60 million shares of Class Bcommon stock issuable upon the exercise of an option.”

    Last month, Facebook shares took a big hit as a “lockup” agreement from the IPO expired, enabling some shareholders who were required to hold on to their stock for a predetermined amount of time, to sell. Facebook shares hit a series of record lows.

    A game was even created, in which you play as Zuckerberg collecting coins, trying to keep stock up.

  • Mark Zuckerberg Won’t Be Selling FB Shares Anytime Soon

    Mark Zuckerberg Won’t Be Selling FB Shares Anytime Soon

    Facebook has filed an 8-K document with the SEC indicating that it will not move forward with a secondary stock offering, but will pay taxes on RSUs, and that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will not be selling any shares, at least for the next year. The document also indicates that Board members Marc Andreessen and Don Graham will not sell any shares, other than what they may sell to cover taxes.

    The document says:

    We have adopted an “Insider Trading Policy” that governs the trading of our securities by our directors, officers, employees and consultants. Pursuant to the terms of that policy, all of our executive officers, as well as other members of our senior management team, are required to conduct any purchase or sale transactions in our securities through atrading plan established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 (“Rule 10b5-1 Plans”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Under the company’s current policies, Rule 10b5-1Plans can be entered into only during an open trading window and are subject to a “cooling-off” period before any sales or purchases may occur pursuant to such a Plan.

    We understand that two of our non-employee directors, Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham, intend to satisfy taxes incurred in connection with the vesting or settlement of their RSU awards by effecting sales of our common stock. Any such sales will be conducted through Rule 10b5-1 Plans adopted in accordance with our securities trading policies.Other than such tax-related sales, Mr. Andreessen and Mr. Graham have no present intention to sell any shares of our common stock held by them personally.

    As of the date of this report, Mark Zuckerberg has not adopted a Rule 10b5-1 Plan and has informed us that he has no intention to conduct any sale transactions in our securities for at least 12 months. Mr. Zuckerberg currently holds in aggregate approximately 444 million shares of Class B common stock as well as 60 million shares of Class Bcommon stock issuable upon the exercise of an option

    TechCrunch shares the document in its entirety:

    [TechCrunch] Facebook 8-K

    Facebook stock is up 3.5% at $18.35 as of the time of this writing.

  • Facebook Stock Flirting With Going Under $18

    To say Facebook stock has struggled since their May IPO is an understatement, and the company continues to see the price fall on the heels of a report from BMO Capital.

    Today, Facebook stock hit a new all-time low, at just over $18. As it stands, the price is fluctuating a couple of cents, hovering just over the $18 mark. This is well-under half of the initial offering price, which was $38.

    BMO Capital’s Daniel Salmon told Bloomberg that “Checks on near-term paid media spending remain challenged.” In other words, Facebook is still struggling to monetize. Salmon cut his price estimate on shares from $25 to $15.

    Although Facebook stock has been on a consistent and gradual decline since the IPO, share price really took a pounding earlier this month when the lockup period requiring shareholders to hold on to stock for a designated amount of time finally came to a close. Shortly after that, the price tanked to its then-lowest point $19.76.

    A few days later, it finally crossed the $19 mark, touching down at $18.75. But it didn’t close at under $19. Today may be the first day that Facebook stock closes sub-$19.

    As of the writing of this article, the price sits at $18.08, which is down 5.28% since its opening price today. It’s lowest point today was $18.06.

    And this is Facebook’s stock price from the IPO day (May 18th) to now…

  • Facebook Stock Sits At Just Over Half of Initial Price

    For the last ten days, Facebook stock has hovered between $19.10 and $19.50 a share. In fact, the last time that it closed over $20 was exactly ten days ago, when it closed at $20.01 – up 5% from the previous day.

    Although Facebook stock has been on a steady decline since their May IPO, the price really took a pounding exactly two weeks ago when the “lockup” period ended. When Facebook went public, their IPO included a lockup agreement that forced some shareholders to hold their stock for a given amount of time. And when that lockup expired, stock plunged under $20 for the first time.

    And although the price has yet to close under $19, it has dipped its toes in that water.

    And today it opened at $19.10, just barely above 50% of the initial offering on May 18th, which was $38.

    It’s not just Facebook that’s affected by their falling stock. Yesterday, the California Department of Corporations approved the company’s deal with Instagram, meaning that the deal has cleared its final hurdle (the FTC ended its investigation last week). The initial deal was valued at $1 billion, but only $300 million was in cash. The rest was comprised of nearly 23 million shares of Facebook stock. Now, with its current price, the Facebook/Instagram deal looks to be closer to $750 million.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that watching the stock underperform has been “painful.” He’s also said that he thinks Facebook’s ““plans and investments will pay off in the long term.”

    But hey, if you really care about Zuckerberg and Facebook’s falling stock price, you can help him keep his coins with this new flash game.

    Here’s a visual that looks at Facebook’s stock price from the first day on the market to today. Yikes:

  • Help Zuckerberg Snatch Coins, Avoid Stock Plunge with New Game

    Help Zuckerberg Snatch Coins, Avoid Stock Plunge with New Game

    As of the writing of this article, Facebook stock sits at $19.44 a share, which means that it is a little over half of the original opening price of $38. If you think that’s bad, it has been even worse in recent days. Earlier this week, the price slid to $18.75. Zuckerberg has said that it is “painful” to watch the tumble, and who can argue with that?

    But here’s what you can do. You can help Zuckerberg hold on to his gold with a new Flash game entitled “Zuck Runner.”

    The game, available at OneMoreLevel.com, runs on a simple premise – you have to collect as many coins as you can to save Facebook’s falling stock. Whiel doing that, you have to also avoid falling into crevices, stepping in lava, and various other impediments. Zuck is self-propelled across the screen, all you have to do is click your mouse to jump (holding it down longer makes Zuck jump higher).

    You can joke all you want about Facebook’s epic stock plunge, but as it currently sits, some analysts say it’s finally worth a buy. As for Zuckerberg, he’s been more active on his site than usual of of late. Between pitching grilling apps and promoting the brand new, lightning-fast Facebook for iOS app, he’s keeping himself busy

    [via All Facebook]

  • Facebook Stock Price Continues To Disappoint

    Facebook Stock Price Continues To Disappoint

    Facebook shares hit a record low last week, at one point, dipping below $19. While they’ve recovered slightly, they’re still significantly below the $38 IPO price.

    As of the time of this writing, shares are down 3% at $19.41.

    CEO Mark Zuckerberg has indicated that it is “painful” to see Facebook stock performing so poorly, but some are questioning whether he should even be running the show anymore.

    Meanwhile, Facebook is trying out plenty of things to help grow revenue, even if some of it sacrifices the user-friendliness of the site. Essentially, it boils down to finding more ways to show users ads, though there are some pretty interesting payments-related opportunities that could have some potential. Still, the mobile payments space is getting rather crowded, rather quickly, and many have expressed a distrust of Facebook when it comes to handling their money.

    Facebook has not even held its annual f8 developers conference, however. We have yet to see what innovation Facebook is going to drop on us this year. Last year, it was the Timeline and Open Graph. It will be interesting to see if this year brings something as significant, or even more so. It will be equally interesting to see how investors react.

    So far, we don’t even have a date for f8. Last year, Facebook announced on August 25 that it would be held on September 22. Perhaps we’ll find out in a few days if the company will follow a similar schedule in 2012. The timing last year was a departure from the previous year’s conference, which was held in the spring.

  • Facebook Stock Takes A Pounding As Lockup Ends

    When Facebook went public, its IPO included a “lockup” agreement that meant some shareholders were required to hold their stock for a predetermined amount of time. For Facebook insiders held to this agreement, that lockup ended today, and as a result, Facebook shares hit their lowest price so far.

    Shares were down at least as low as $19.76 at one point.

    According to CNNMoney, 22 million shares changed hands in the first ten minutes this morning, and 42 million shares had done so by a half-hour in.

    Earlier this week, Business Insider put out a list of potential sellers, which included Peter Thiel, Accel Partners, DST Global Limited, Goldman Sachs, Elevation Partners, Greylock Partners, Mail.ru Group Limited, Mark Pincus, Meritech Capital Partners, Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, and Tiger Global Management.

    It’s unclear how many shares from this group of people were actually sold, but there were reportedly over 2 billion shares held by the lockup.

    As of the time of this writing, Facebook shares are at $19.95.

  • Facebook Stock: What Will FB’s Big Day Hold For Shareholders?

    Facebook will release its first earnings report as a public company Thursday afternoon, after the market closes. The company has come a long way since launching in 2004, and now we’ll really get to see what it’s made of.

    Facebook is down roughly 25% since the IPO. Here’s what the graph looks like (via Google Finance):

    Facebook Stock

    In pre-market trading, Facebook stock was at 27.63 (-1.71, -5.83%), as of Jul 26, 9:08AM EDT. It closed yesterday at 29.34. According to Reuters, investors are expecting a 14% move (either up or down), following the earnings report.

    Let’s hope, for Facebook shareholders’ sake, that Facebook has a better day than Zynga did yesterday (Zynga fell to as little as $3 in pre-market trading).

    The company will host a conference call to discuss its results, starting at 2:00 PM PT. There will be a live webcast on the company’s investor relations site. In case you can’t tune in, the company will offer a replay of the webcast on the site after it’s over, and a telephonic replay will be available for a week following the call.