Despite having the largest retail demand of any IPO in history, this morning’s much anticipated Facebook IPO debuted with less than stellar performance. While some experts expected stock prices to shoot over $70 per share, it only enjoyed a short period at about $45 after which it returned to its pre-negotiated $38 per share price.
Business Insider is reporting on a source close to the issue that told them there was some sort of communication breakdown early on that even delayed the start of sales. Apparently, Nasdaq was prevented from informing big bank trading desks that sales even went through or at what price. This confusion combined with a huge amount of shares on hand left very little room for demand and caused selling to stall out prematurely.
Who knows what will happen with Facebook IPO after today, or even later today, but it is highly possible that this mornings events aren’t an indicator of anything. After all, we really haven’t seen a company like Facebook go public before. Facebook has become more than just a networking site, it is a cultural institution.
We will be watching the Wall Street and Facebook as the day progresses and you can check back here for regular IPO updates. In the meantime you can checkout this daily chart from Business Insider. It features all of Facebook’s current shareholders and how much of the social giant they control.
