ipo

Ahead of earnings day, Facebook manages expectations

As it gets ready to report its first earnings as a publicly traded company this week, Facebook is doing something most high-profile tech companies wouldn't think of: It's offering to help out the media.

More specifically, the company's outside PR firm, Brunswick Group, is sharing with journalists a list of selected Facebook news in case they weren't watching when the items first came over the transom. In addition, they've compiled links to articles which stress that, yes, big advertisers (unlike General Motors) really do like Facebook as an advertising platform.

For Facebook, it seems, this … Read more

Facebook preps for earnings close-up as questions abound

Facebook will report its first quarter as a public company on Thursday and could face a rough crowd as worries persist about growth rates, the social network's mobile strategy, and monetization. 

Welcome to the public markets Mark Zuckerberg. 

Depending on Wall Street's reaction to the second quarter results, Zuckerberg may wish Facebook was still private. At least Zuckerberg has his net worth as balm for any really tricky questions.

Wall Street is expecting Facebook to report earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $1.15 billion. 

According to Thomson Reuters, analysts project Facebook'… Read more

Facebook IPO compensation plan reportedly due next week

Nasdaq plans to release its Facebook IPO investor compensation plan next week and it will probably be more than the $40 million originally proposed, Fox Business News reported today.

The deal will be all cash and Nasdaq is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a second draft of the proposal, unnamed sources told Fox.

The SEC has declined to comment. We have a call into the Nasdaq and will update when we get more information.

The stock exchange's bungle of the social network company's opening day of trading has been widely criticized.

Facebook's first day … Read more

Kayak sets IPO price at $26 a share

Facebook's teeter-totter on the Nasdaq has caused some to wonder whether it's a good idea for Internet companies to go public. After a little back-and-forth and a bit of careful consideration, the online travel agency Kayak has decided to take the plunge.

Trading is scheduled to begin on the Nasdaq tomorrow, with the company's initial public offering set at $26 per share -- above the expected range of $22 to $25, according to CNBC. Kayak aims to sell 3.5 million shares, it said in its regulatory filing last week. At $26, that would mean raising $91 … Read more

McNamee says behavior on Facebook IPO is 'criminal'

As usual, tech investor Roger McNamee didn't hold back today, telling Bloomberg TV that the Nasdaq and Morgan Stanley are to blame for Facebook's IPO bungle as their actions on the stock "bordered on criminal."

McNamee, whose firm Elevation Partners (the private equity firm he co-founded with Bono) invested in Facebook, said the public offering put a spotlight on the "extreme corruption" in Wall Street and the IPO bungle was done on purpose to benefit Morgan Stanley.

"NASDAQ's behavior on this in my mind borders on criminal.I think Morgan Stanley's … Read more

Twitter's Costolo: We have a 'truckload of money in the bank'

When Facebook finally announced its initial public offering, many believed that Twitter would be close behind. But on yet another occasion, the company's chief executive, Dick Costolo, says it won't be happening.

"We are going to remain private as long as we want," Costolo told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published yesterday. "I like being private for all sorts of reasons. It allows us to think about the business and the way we want to grow it in the small boardroom as opposed to being beholden to a particular way of growing the … Read more

Kayak Software seeks to raise $87 million in IPO

Kayak Software is finally ready to test the IPO waters.

The online travel company announced today in a regulatory filing that it aims to raise as much as $87.5 million by selling 3.5 million shares for between $22 and $25 each. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker KYAK.

Kayak, which first filed to go public in 2010, effectively put its IPO in dry dock in May after company executives decided against holding its "roadshow" with would-be investors around Memorial Day as planned. Executives were reportedly worried about the willingness in the … Read more

Facebook foibles failed to fend off fund managers

Facebook's stock plummet in May wasn't enough to push away fund managers, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that it commissioned Morningstar to compile information on purchases made by U.S.-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in May. Among the findings was the revelation that "at least" 160 of those funds bought Facebook shares in May.

According to the Journal, some of the funds that acquired Facebook shares during the month were so enamored of the social network that they disregarded their focus and went after a risky bet. In … Read more

Save the date: Facebook sets time for first earnings report

Get ready for another wave of round-the-clock analysis over Facebook's business.

The company today set July 26 as the day it will release its first earnings report since going public May 18, according to a note posted on Facebook's investor relations page.

Facebook will report earnings for its second quarter. The company posted $1.6 billion in revenue for its first quarter -- a report it put out during the run-up to its IPO -- and net income of $205 million, which was down 12 percent from the year-earlier quarter.

The stock, as you can see from the … Read more