stocks

Facebook's recent push to make money could backfire, warns an analyst who believes a user backlash may depress its shares to $16 over the next year.

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield lowered his firm's target price for Facebook today, citing concern over Facebook's "aggressive" increase of monetization efforts, particularly mobile ads, according to his report. Facebook's stock opened at $20.40 a share this morning.

Since going public in May, Facebook has faced increasing pressure from investors to demonstrate that it can keep revenue and profits growing quickly. The social network has increased advertising efforts, … Read more

Yesterday, Zynga announced a big write-off and told Wall Street its growth was slowing. Today, Wall Street returned the favor by crushing Zynga shares, forcing them down 12 percent to $2.48.

Analysts say Zynga could still recover. It remains a leader in the casual-gaming industry, with more than 300 million monthly users, and as of July 30, it held a decent financial cushion in the form of $436 million in cash and equivalents on hand -- a good chunk of the $1 billion it raised in its IPO late last year.

It's starting to look like Zynga's … Read more

Looks like the Facebook pessimism has returned.

Shares of Facebook, which have been on a tear since CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought to calm Wall Street during an in an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt less than two weeks ago, are getting slammed today. The stock fell more than 10 percent at one point and triggered the SEC's short-sale restriction, which is designed to keep short-sellers from battering the stock even further. Shares closed down more than 9 percent at $20.75.

Why the sudden change of heart? The broader market is taking a hit, which of course doesn't help. … Read more

No other company in the world holds as much personal data as Facebook, which puts it in an ideal position to cull data from your friends and friends-of-friends, and even those you don't know, to bring you answers to your deepest questions. Such as, "What sushi restaurants have my friends gone to in New York in the last six months and Liked?"

Ok, maybe that's not your deepest questions, but it's the example that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used during an interview at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF conference earlier this month when he was talking … Read more

Apple's stock ended on a high note, crossing $700 mark at the end of day, capping off a strong run over the summer.

Its share price closed up 1.2 percent to $699.78. In after-hours trading, it hovered above $700 for a few minutes. It last traded at $699.80.

Apple gave investors another reason to cheer today when it said the pre-orders for the iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours, more than doubling the 1 million iPhone 4S pre-orders from nearly a year ago. AT&T chimed in to say it saw record pre-orders over the weekend, … Read more

Apple's stock keeps soaring higher and higher following this week's unveiling of the iPhone 5.

Earlier today, the shares hovered at around $696, up almost 14 points since yesterday's close and within a hair's breadth of the $700 threshold. They closed at $691.28.

The climb began Wednesday during the iPhone event.

Shares started to rise as the event unfolded, reaching $668. Many investors decided to cash in at that point, since the stock fell back down to $657 after the event. But further trading drove the stock up to $669. It jumped still further in … Read more

Never mind the naysayers who are complaining that the iPhone 5 lacks this or that feature. Wall Street couldn't care less.

Investors bid up shares of Apple almost another 2 percent today, pushing the stock to close at a record high of $682.98. That's a 3.3 percent climb in two trading sessions.

After yesterday's iPhone 5 event, a number of already giddy analysts rushed to up their sales estimates and raise their target prices for the stock as it inches its ways towards the $700 mark. One analyst even predicted Apple could top $1,600 a share … Read more

Apple's stock had a roller-coaster reaction to the company's iPhone 5 event today, but ultimately gained several points.

Shortly after 10 a.m. PT when the launch event started, the stock started to climb from a daily low of $657 a share. By 10:30 a.m., the stock had reached $668. But then it lost its steam.

By 1 p.m, not long after the event had ended, the stock had trickled all the way back down to $657. But then further trading after the event boosted the stock back to $669 a share, a gain of … Read more

Wall Street is reacting positively this morning to comments made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg yesterday as he tried to rally investors upset over the stock's recent nosedive.

As of morning trading, the stock has risen almost 6 percent, hovering at around $20.50. That's little more than a $1 dollar gain from yesterday. But it's still a hopeful and welcome change from the recent performance, which saw the stock drop below $18 a share last month from its initial IPO price of $38. The shares also were already up more than 3 percent yesterday in after-hours … Read more