For all the huge numbers in Facebook's IPO papers, a surprisingly small figure stands out: $4.39, the amount the site generated per user last year.
It's one of the company's major challenges because the total is paltry compared with competing Internet companies. Google makes more than $30 a year from each registered user. Even struggling Yahoo and AOL make $7 and $10, respectively.
Once Facebook goes public, Wall Street will surely demand more. That means the social network will almost certainly have to attract a lot more users or be more aggressive with its advertising, perhaps by mining personal data even more than it does now.
But can Facebook do all that without spoiling the user experience?
2012-02-01 Facebook IPO: Google All Over Again?
In all likelihood, social-networking giant Facebook is going to file for an initial public offering in the very near future, as soon as Wednesday, if Wall Street Journal reports are to be believed.
Now we’ve all been hearing rumors and reading reports about a Facebook IPO for the longest time, so normally, I wouldn’t get excited about this “news.”
However, last week, trading of private Facebook shares on secondary markets was frozen. And at the 2012 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg commented directly on the idea of going public by saying, “If this is seen as an opportunity for jobs and for people to use their work to change the world, that’s what we want to be a part of.”
2012-01-19 Wall Street gains on banks, pullback seen
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after earnings from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley lifted financials and strong demand at European bond auctions eased concerns over Europe.
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC - News) climbed 4.6 percent to $7.11 and was the top boost to both the benchmark S&P and the Dow Industrials. The bank swung to a fourth-quarter profit, helped by one-time items and lower expenses for bad loans. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - News) reported a quarterly loss that was narrower than expected, sending shares up 4.5 percent to $18.13.
2012-01-18 Gold Back at 5-Week High
Gold futures staged a comeback Wednesday, ending the day at a five-week high and extending their gains to a second session. Gold for February delivery ended $4.30 higher, or 0.3%, at $1,659.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices started the day in the red but turned as traders saw a hint of inflation in a U.S. government report and the dollar extended its fall.
2012-01-17 Market Shrinks First Time Since '09
Stocks are getting scarcer in the U.S. for the first time since the bull market began as companies cut share sales to the lowest level since 2006 and buy back equity at the fastest pace in four years.
Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and 1,971 other U.S. companies repurchased $397 billion of stock last year, while they issued $169 billion of new equity, data compiled by Birinyi Associates Inc. and Bloomberg show. The combination reduced the Standard & Poor's 500 Index divisor, a measure of outstanding shares, by 0.6 percent last quarter, the first drop since March 2009.
2012-01-16 Invest in Yourself to Retire Well
I have a particularly resourceful friend who lives a pretty good life, despite never having quite enough money. She is hardworking and popular with her wide circle of friends, neighbors and colleagues. She networks, barters and works for what she really wants.
A former chef turned teacher, she finessed enough grant money to pay for a two-week trip to cooking school in Italy. She knows where all the good used furniture stores are, has bartered home cleaning for a two-week stay in a vacation home in Vermont, and is working on an arrangement now that will get her free housing in France for several weeks this summer. Tres bien!
2012-01-15 The 10 Most Hated Companies in America
Customers, employees, shareholders and taxpayers hate large corporations for many reasons. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a lengthy list of corporations for which there is substantial research data to choose the 10 most hated in America.
Research about companies comes in two sets. One is public research about consumer satisfaction, customer care, pricing of products and services, and brand impressions. Wall St. research takes into account another set of factors, which include present earnings, profit forecasts, product development and quality, and brand valuations.