Facebook IPO

Sandman

Member
Oct 13, 2009
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No one thing will usurp it, but it will be multiple things. Maybe dozens.

How much bigger can Facebook get? By now 99% of people who want to be on it are already on it.

International markets, especially Asia and Africa. More than half the world's population is there and there are a lot of potential users. I agree that the user base in North American and Europe has been almost completely tapped, but there's a lot of growth left if Facebook plays it right.
 

usedcarguy

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2008
5,556
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Ames
No one thing will usurp it, but it will be multiple things. Maybe dozens.

How much bigger can Facebook get? By now 99% of people who want to be on it are already on it.


I think it's clear that with exception of a few countries, subscriber growth is slowing. But because of how specialized they can sort the demographics of their users, their per user value to an advertiser is worth 10-15x of anything else to date. It's a target marketer's dream and thus the insane valuation.

Now the $64k question is how they will be able to monetize it in a way to make serious money. I guess the $10B they're raising should help! :wideeyed: If I get offered any on the IPO, I'll definitely buy. But not a chance on the open market until it becomes clear how they plan on executing the business model. "Just because everybody else is" doesn't make a good investment thesis....
 

Ry4Cy

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2010
3,889
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Ankeny
I well be waiting for the stock to fall way below IPO before I even think about touching it! Maybe it happens maybe it doesn't! If it doesn't I will not be buying!
 

twistedredbird

Well-Known Member
Apr 26, 2008
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Midwest
FB is scrambling to increase its advertising base, especially given its privacy issue update. Marketers aren't buying FB IPO, and read this: DATA: Google Totally Blows Away Facebook On Ad Performance - Business Insider

Marketers primarily see FB as a place for engagement through social interaction, not ad buying.

Now, the social media platform that seems to do well with advertising in Zynga games, and look at how well their stock performed.

Fb is going to have to figure out advertising for mobile to, as right now their ap doesn't do it. With mobile browsing set to pass computer based browsing in 2012/2013, their current ad structure/strategy is amiss.

Also, the real key to the future of "buying" is Location Based advertising.
 

cy1010

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2009
3,047
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yup. schwab say's i can't buy new shares nor can i sell them. tried to have some fun with linkedin.

Put options might be an option. But I'm going to wait to see what the premium is on them first. I have a feeling there will be a lot of love buying in the IPO and a lot of hate (possibly equally so) buying the puts.
 

CyFan61

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2010
14,540
273
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yup. schwab say's i can't buy new shares nor can i sell them. tried to have some fun with linkedin.

I think Schwab has a $100,000 account minimum to be able to do anything with FB on Friday. Everyone else has to wait. Other brokerages have even higher minimums
 

LostinIowaCity

Active Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jan 15, 2011
481
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Ames, IA
I would tend to stay away from this one. Too many people who don't know what they hell they're doing are going to buy in. It's going to trade at a trailing P/E of over 100.

I expect the price to jump tomorrow (and maybe into next week), but I have a hard time believing that the price will stay up once they start releasing earnings.
 

erikbj

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2006
7,508
651
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hiawatha, ia
They said Facebook is already worth more than Kraft and Disney. Since i do this for a living, i have to say I would rather own Kraft or Disney for the long run. Not sure if FB will be around in 5-10 years (pretty sure that poor people will still be eating Mac'N Cheese).........I am not on FB or the other sites, but i thought there was a hot site a few years ago called MySpace - how's that doing?

The more stories you hear about FB taking your personal info and selling it - people will realize that they want more privacy and i guess in the next year or two you will see a decline in users. Just my 2 cents and that's probably all its worth.
 

cyclonenum1

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2006
7,191
330
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I am curious where their revenue comes from. Selling information about its customers?

85% from ads and 15% from gaming partners.

They believe that they can really target ads because people put their preferences on their system by "liking" things. They also believe that "friends" are more likely to be disposed to buying things their friends "like". I put like and friends in quotes because I think those are pretty loose terms relative to what they mean on FB.

I can see this company being a long term player and I can also see it being a short term flame out. The P/E it will be at is ridiculous...rich price for pretty skinny earnings. I also think Zuckerburg (sp?) is a wild card. He does not seem to understand that the mandate for a public company is to make money for shareholders. He keeps talking about "connecting the world"...that is wonderful...but shareholders only care about that if it makes them money.

All that said, their really big potential for growth (as it is with a lot of companies) is China...where currently their site is blocked.
 

cyclonenum1

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2006
7,191
330
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They said Facebook is already worth more than Kraft and Disney. Since i do this for a living, i have to say I would rather own Kraft or Disney for the long run. Not sure if FB will be around in 5-10 years (pretty sure that poor people will still be eating Mac'N Cheese).........I am not on FB or the other sites, but i thought there was a hot site a few years ago called MySpace - how's that doing?

The more stories you hear about FB taking your personal info and selling it - people will realize that they want more privacy and i guess in the next year or two you will see a decline in users. Just my 2 cents and that's probably all its worth.


I tend to be in agreement with you...and I am in the financial services business as well.

One other thing, the early adopters to FB were basically kids...people that didn't understand the impact of putting all aspects of their personal life out for all to see. They are now starting to understand the impact with potential employers trolling the site for info...not to mention parents and grandparents now trolling the site.

I know plenty of kids that are either getting off the site or are going to other venues to communicate with their friends in a more private setting where potential employers or, God forbid, their parents are not watching.
 

balken

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2006
2,744
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They said Facebook is already worth more than Kraft and Disney. Since i do this for a living, i have to say I would rather own Kraft or Disney for the long run. Not sure if FB will be around in 5-10 years (pretty sure that poor people will still be eating Mac'N Cheese).........I am not on FB or the other sites, but i thought there was a hot site a few years ago called MySpace - how's that doing?

The more stories you hear about FB taking your personal info and selling it - people will realize that they want more privacy and i guess in the next year or two you will see a decline in users. Just my 2 cents and that's probably all its worth.

I understand your point but DIS and KFT have been dead money for years. Only a decent dividend on KFT has made it worth consideration. That said, this is not an endorsement of FB as I know little to nothing about their financials.
 

Tailg8er

Well-Known Member
Feb 25, 2011
7,887
4,741
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Johnston
They said Facebook is already worth more than Kraft and Disney. Since i do this for a living, i have to say I would rather own Kraft or Disney for the long run. Not sure if FB will be around in 5-10 years (pretty sure that poor people will still be eating Mac'N Cheese).........I am not on FB or the other sites, but i thought there was a hot site a few years ago called MySpace - how's that doing?

The more stories you hear about FB taking your personal info and selling it - people will realize that they want more privacy and i guess in the next year or two you will see a decline in users. Just my 2 cents and that's probably all its worth.

Myspace never even got CLOSE to the size/popularity of FB.

I tend to be in agreement with you...and I am in the financial services business as well.

One other thing, the early adopters to FB were basically kids...people that didn't understand the impact of putting all aspects of their personal life out for all to see. They are now starting to understand the impact with potential employers trolling the site for info...not to mention parents and grandparents now trolling the site.

I know plenty of kids that are either getting off the site or are going to other venues to communicate with their friends in a more private setting where potential employers or, God forbid, their parents are not watching.

You do realize you can make it so family/prospective employers/anybody else can't find you, right?
 

cyclonenum1

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2006
7,191
330
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Another big question...will Zuckerburg (sp?) be on time to ring the bell so the exchange can open on time?
 

CLONECONES

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2012
7,614
480
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RVA
unless you've got fat capital stocked up somewhere there's no way youre going to be able to buy <5000 shares at a time for awhile
 

Incyte

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2007
4,956
931
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What exchange is FB going to be traded on? I doubt I'll ever see it. I primarily buy diamonds and spiders. I guess down the road it might find it's way to the S&P 500.
 

Cydkar

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
26,922
12,722
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No way I'd get in on this.

1) I couldn't
2) I wouldn't. I'm not sold on this going well for investors.
 

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