Well, here we are, Facebook’s day has finally arrived. Do you have butterflies? Are you checking your favorite finance news sites for minute-by-minute updates? If you’re interested in
Facebook’s Initial Public Offering you may be – or you might be on information overload by now. When Facebook stock starts trading on Friday, May 18 under the ticker symbol FB, all eyes will be on the markets.
Rarely has there been this kind of attention on a single IPO in the history of the stock markets. The numbers are huge: a potential $100 billion valuation for a company that many analysts believe is unwarranted – the current revenue numbers just don’t seem to add up and its unique business model isn’t financially proven. It’s now expected that the initial share price will be in the $34–38 range, and many think it will go higher from there in the initial hours of trading. “Irrational exuberance”? Perhaps, but then again, maybe not.
Other IPOs have made big splashes, but none have been quite like this. Here’s a look at some other recent tech-industry IPOs and how they compare to the Facebook offering.
Google
Remember Google’s IPO? It was almost as closely watched as Facebook’s, but the numbers were very different. During its August 2004 debut, Google raised a then-whopping $1.67 billion and garnered a cool $23 billion valuation. Shares opened at $85 but jumped almost immediately to $100 – a previously unheard of leap.
Google's stock closed at $108.31 per share that day. In late 2007, shares rose to the $700 range, and then dropped to the $300 range during the most recent recession, in 2009. Since then, based on solid earnings, constant revenue innovation and market domination, Google's shares have risen steadily to the middle $600s today.
Apple
Apple’s IPO is not exactly recent, but it’s worth including here, as ballast, because its share price has commanded a fair amount of attention in recent months. In early 2009, a share of Apple stock was in the $100 range.
Based on solid financial performance quarter after quarter, it has risen to its all-time high, having flirted with $600 per share a couple of times in recent weeks. There’s a lot to say about Apple as a company, and about its stock. While most view it as strictly a tech company, many others see it as a lifestyle company, and there are many evangelistas who will tell you exactly that. But in the end, financial performance is its own reward.
Source : http://facebook-fan-page-creation-tools.toptenreviews.com/facebook-ipo-boom-or-bust-.html
