Facebook IPO

[BigNick]

Never mind $20 billion wiped off the shares since IPO. The real issue is whether MZ should have left a $7 tip at a restaurant in Rome on his honeymoon.

(BTW: Rome, for your honeymoon? When you could go anywhere? Srsly? I mean, it's a nice city and all, but still.)

[Spanky]

It was nice that we did not have to leave a tip when we were in Italy last year. We should adopt the same system that paying servers and restaurant workers decent wages in such a way that tips are not needed.

[explanade]

Most Italian restaurants have cover and service charges added in.

The sniping about their wedding not being lavish enough or the ring not having a big enough diamond is ridiculous.

[MichaelB]

Update on Facebook in WSJ with an interesting graphic Facebook Investors Cash Out - WSJ.com

[SRyan]

Even at $20 a share, FaceBook is still standing at a $43B market cap; while in comparison, Ford Motor Company’s market cap is $37B and CSX’s market cap is $24B. How easy will FaceBook be to copy in the near future (with very little start-up capital)? > Look at MySpace-anyone remember those guys?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SRyan Look at MySpace-anyone remember those guys?

I also remember when analysts said that Google would never survive on advertising.

Facebook will figure it out, especially now that they can attract some real engineering talent.

[lynxville]

What would be a good price to buy fb?

[NW-Bound]

I have not followed FB nor been interested in its IPO, but did a quick look to try to answer the above question.

I saw that analyst's estimate of FB's earnings is $0.13/share in 2012, increasing to $0.43/share in 2013. Let's be generous and use the higher predicted forward earning, if we value FB the same as S&P500 at a P/E ratio of 14, then the fair price would be $6.

Obviously, companies on an exponential growth path would be awarded a higher P/E, while dying companies would be valued at a much less ratio. How does one classify FB? I dunno.

[rbmrtn]

I was thinking around $5. I would have shorted it if the shares were available. They don't really seem to have a business, more like just kids playing online with their friends.

Seems like they need to start charging for FB accounts the way your email provider or web hosting service does. I think the online advertising model for revenue has it's limits, I know I never pay any attention them or click on them. I use something like simple AdBlock to rid of them...

Adblock for Internet Explorer version IE7, IE8, IE9 and IE10 – Simple Adblock

[Bestwifeever]

Facebook seems to have wedged itself into the business world as using social media becomes more prevalent (almost every ad I see has the little Facebook symbol on it). I think it might mature into becoming a business mainstay as personal users of social media on the other hand leave it to glom onto the next big things as they come along, from Twitter to Houzz to Pinterest and Instagram, and as social media from a personal standpoint splinters into special interest. So I wouldn't bet Facebook out yet.

[NW-Bound]

It's very hard to predict which of these "new economy" companies will prosper (does anybody use that term anymore?). Take Google for example. I was not interested at all in Google IPO, though its search engine had been my favorite. Then, I see that they have been doing a lot of neat stuff. But how would one know and how would one put a valuation on that? I prefer to be like Buffet. He admits that he does not know, and would rather put his money elsewhere. He said he could not even evaluate Microsoft and other big tech companies.

[Animorph]

Morningstar has been saying $19 is their "consider buying" price, with a fair value of $32 IIRC.

I've been buying as it falls, last was at $18.84. Hopefully it won't go all the way to $5, but you never know. It is depending a lot on suddenly becoming more profitable.

[rbmrtn]

Here's some interesting comments on FBs IPO prospectus...

It

[Hamlet]

Hey, if you're buying an IPO, you don't need to read the prospectus.

You just let it pop on the issue date and sell it to the next guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbmrtn Here's some interesting comments on FBs IPO prospectus... It

[kcowan]

You can buy bonds at IPO and avoid the broker fees.

[stocktrader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animorph Morningstar has been saying $19 is their "consider buying" price, with a fair value of $32 IIRC.

Here is an interesting article that talks about Morningstar's rating of Facebook stock, and why it might not be reliable. ThinkTrade Journal - August 28, 2012 - Morningstar: Facebook report and valuation

[Animorph]

I'm out of Facebook now, with about a 10% profit.

5/17/2012 bought 50 shares @ $38.00 (IPO)
5/22/2012 bought 50 shares @ $31.60
6/4/2012 bought 50 shares @ $26.69
8/16/2012 bought 150 shares @ $19.75
12/3/2012 sold 300 shares @ $28.75

A little over $800 gain after all costs. A happy ending! Waiting for that final 10% gain was the hardest part.

This is my usual procedure for a stock that is volatile and is not dropping due to some big impairment. I'm out altogether now because FB was just a fun play, not part of my AA.

[kcowan]

Upthread you mentioned buying at 18.84 - was that before brokerage fees?

Anyway, well done keeping the faith on the way down.

[Midpack]

I don't (directly) own any FB, but always interesting when such a high profile insider sells.

Sheryl Sandberg Has Sold More Than $40 Million in Facebook Stock So Far

While these numbers might sound large, they still represent just a small fraction of Sandberg's Facebook shares.

These announcements came shortly after Peter Thiel, another prominent member of Facebook's board, sold off the majority of his 26.2 million shares of Facebook, pushing the stock price down to a new low.

http://mashable.com/2012/12/10/shery...acebook-stock/

[ChiliPepr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Sheryl Sandberg Has Sold More Than $40 Million in Facebook Stock So Far

I think you also have to look at how much she sold, she sold about 10% of her holdings... This could easily be chalked up to "reallocation". She had about $200million in FB stock, it would make sense to pull some out and put it into something different. Many people in the .com era made millions on paper and never sold any, when the market crashed they lost everything (and many went bankrupt because they still had to pay taxes on their options).

Isn't that what we do all the time?

I think it is much more telling when insider buy the stock.