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Facebook To Go Public On Friday, May 18

Posted by samzenpus on from the for-real-this-time dept.

redletterdave writes "The IPO on everyone's minds for the past few years — and possibly the biggest one in history — is upon us: Facebook will finally make its Wall Street debut on Friday, May 18, 2012. Sources also say Facebook will begin its IPO roadshow on Monday, May 7, and will eventually list its shares on the Nasdaq (not NYSE) with the ticker symbol 'FB.' Facebook looks to raise anywhere from $5 billion to $10 billion during its roadshow to achieve a $100 billion valuation, which would make it one of the biggest IPOs of all-time."

10 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Elephant in the room by Idetuxs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone have to say it: Bubble

    There.

    1. Re:Elephant in the room by Yvanhoe · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I hope so. I fear it is not. Facebook is indeed profitable. I doubt it has much room left to grow a lot but it is a company that is worth a lot already.

      My bet is that the IPO will be a success, just not an hysteric one.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    2. Re:Elephant in the room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      My bet is that, just like in most IPOs, the only people to make money from it will be the institutional investors that get in as preferred (early access before normal trading). They'll then cash out as early trading and the "day trader" mentality causes the price to go spiking up. The folks that buy during that spike will be left holding the (empty) bag. Again, as usual. This seems to always happen on these "big" IPO offers. Google's was the same way. Now - if you buy during the spike, you might still make money if you can steel yourself to hold onto it for awhile. Maybe. If you are lucky. Otherwise, for folks like the average slashdot reader, it is a "don't buy".

    3. Re:Elephant in the room by DerekLyons · · Score: 5, Informative

      Google's was the same way.

      No, it wasn't. On opening day it closed at 100.35, and except for two days two weeks after their IPO... it's never been below that.

    4. Re:Elephant in the room by similar_name · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They spy on you whether you have an account or not. Unless you actively make the effort to block their servers from loading widgets on every other page you visit. It may not link you to a name but it does link you to an IP address which often links you to a rough location (and it's just a matter of making a deal with your ISP to link the IP to your name). If Facebook ever gets an ad network going off of Facebook they will have a lot of info related to your ip to serve those ads.

  2. Best avoided by icebike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This will open low, shoot high, then nosedive and stay low for a long time.
    You can play in this sandbox, as long as you understand that all the sand belongs to someone else, and at bets you can get in, fill your bucket, dump it, and get back out before any one notices you are there.

    Everybody recognizes this for what it is, a cashout for the major FB players.

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    1. Re:Best avoided by Kenja · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When it drops low enough I'll buy a single share so I can get on the investors mailing list. Cant wait to see documented information about how they make their money. Should be a fun read.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    2. Re:Best avoided by icebike · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm on a lot of such lists, and you will never read anything of interest there.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:Best avoided by icebike · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are very few companies like Facebook whom have no documented source of their income. They are under legal obligation to provide investors with mission & earning statements.

      I've read a lot of them.

      You will find precious little detail in the revenue side of a 10K. You get exactly what they want you to get, while sales data is masked and obfuscated and aggregated to the point that you can't tell anything from the Balance sheet. Entire massive R&D projects can be hidden on the costs side of the ledger, such that companies like Apple can spring an entire new concept in in smart phones after three years of development with no one having any clear idea of the cost involved, or even that the project was underway from reading financial statements and annual reports.

      Seriously, if you think Sarbanes–Oxley or GAAP rules or SEC regulations provide any clarity or a level playing field you are delusional.

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      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  3. Re:Yep... by koan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Oh and this...

    Venture capitalists fund startups that leverage Facebook data to disrupt their incumbents. Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya left the company to start a venture capital firm with a single mission: fund companies that will use Facebook's open APIs to take over large, calcified industries like banking, education, and healthcare. Palihapitiya is funding a banking startup, for example, that will give potential customers a credit score based on their Facebook activity. Potential: Unknown. The idea is that Facebook will profit from companies using its data to disrupt incumbants the way it figured out how to profit from Facebook gamesmaker Zynga's disruption of the videogame industry.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-lousy-ad-business-is-making-its-ipo-is-looking-hairier-by-the-minute--heres-why-it-doesnt-matter-2012-5#ixzz1tkNTU9mH

    Scary.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."