back to article Facebook value hits $100bn, to go public in Q1 2012

Facebook's valuation grew even larger yesterday, after a CNBC report suggested that share-watchers on Wall Street expected to see the company's planned IPO pop the $100bn mark. CNBC reckoned the dominant social network could take Facebook public in the first quarter of 2012, with an S-1 filing that might land as soon as …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Khaptain Silver badge
    WTF?

    FFS

    There must be some kind of hidden intrinsic value in Facebook but for the life of me I just can't see it.

    Teenagers and bored adults connected to a website in order to share utter nonsense between themselves can somehow be worth $100bn strikes me as being flawed.

    I presume that the bankers/investors are preparing to make a killing just before they annonce that it was effectively "over" priced/estimated and that unfortunately Joe Public will loes everything they have just invested.

    I don't care for Apple but at least they actually produce something, hence their market value.

    But Zuckerberg is producing nothing even remotely useful, other than to keep the masses at bay. A user updating his Facebook account is must be less of a threat than a thinking man, therefore the govt and bankers love them .

    I don't care about Zuckerbergs fame/fortune, good luck to him he's done well, but I am just sick and amazed at the level of human stupidity and just how low it is sinking

    1. Sir Cosmo Bonsor

      Sounds like you are bitter

      Facebook's phenomenal footfall and the value of all that data alone are comfortably worth that much to somebody.

    2. GavinC

      hidden intrinsic value?

      There is lots of hidden intrinsic value in facebook - it is starting to become the only www page. When is the last time you saw a commercial for a product on TV that displayed a URL for the product? Every one of them now is "find us on Facebook".

      For products or manufacturing companies, the days of having a website to market your products and services is over. Its now all about having a facebook page. As soon as someone "likes" your page, not only do all of their friends see the name of your company, but you now have the user signed up to a mailing list and can advise them on every development or new product you release.

      Facebook has long grown beyond being a social network site, it is now one of the biggest gaming platforms on the net, and is becoming a global marketplace for products and services. Just wait till that "Like" button on each product page is joined by a "Buy" button, and that $100bn valuation will look like a bargain.

      1. peyton?

        There are even...

        I've seen small "mom and pop" business not even bother with a traditional web page - they just push the info they need out via a Facebook page - doesn't cost em a cent. In fact, for restaurants with changing menus, it can be easy to post a facebook update with tonight's specials rather than having to go through a third-party web dev or CMS arrangement.

    3. Zap

      Value

      Look the value is simple, as an advertiser I can target a middle aged mum living in Surrey or a university kid in Seattle.

      With Google all I can target is commercial intent based on a keyword along with Broad, phrase and exact match.

      Google is getting better but Facebook has huge potential.

  2. Code Monkey

    It's not a bubble, bitch

    Keep telling yourselves it's not a bubble.

    1. There's a bee in my bot net

      More like bauble...

      ...all shiny and attractive but intrinsically worthless.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Buble?

    Is that a bubble? or is it my eyes?

    A company that produces exactly nothing worth 100Bn green bucks?

    It must be my eyes...

    1. JakeyC

      Buble?

      NEWS JUST IN: Michael Buble is worth $100bn and is about to burst.

      More at 10.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Holmes

      That's where you're wrong.

      You see, it's a product that actually eats up people's time, detracting from the useful work they could be doing. It does generate value, just negative value. In the right hands that could be very useful indeed.

      Nah, it's a bubble.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    They never learn...

    Sits back and waits for the inevitable....

  5. HP Cynic

    100bn because it sounds cool?

    Previous valuations had little basis in fact so it's clear that suddenly boosting it from 60bn to 100bn is just pumping more air into the bubble.

    But since I won't be looking to buy shares I ultimately don't care how they are valued on flotation or 3 months after that.

    1. Hayden Clark Silver badge
      FAIL

      Got a Pension or 401(k)

      You are going to be an investor. A poorer one.

  6. Joe 1
    Paris Hilton

    Yeah, sure it is

    Facebook worth $100B. What a joke. Users are de-registering in droves as they finally understand how stupidly worthless it is to let your universe of friends and acquaintances know you are using the toilet, or about to eat a ham sandwich.

    Face it, Pr0n is the only money maker in the inter-tubes, the rest hang off its revenues.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just think how many football players you could get for that

    /sarcasm

  8. Bernard

    Did Charlie Sheen call to give you the news?

    Blue Horseshoe loves Facebook.

  9. This post has been deleted by its author

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A fool and...

    A fool and his money are soon parted.

  11. b-a-r-k-i-n-g-m-a-d
    Facepalm

    Pr0n...

    "Face it, Pr0n is the only money maker in the inter-tubes, the rest hang off its revenues."

    I have heard otherwise - there is so much available for free people are not prepared to 'pay' for it.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unless...

    "But since I won't be looking to buy shares I ultimately don't care how they are valued on flotation or 3 months after that."

    Unless... a pension or something else you invest in DOES decide to put money in of course.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Another Pump and Dump Scam powered by Goldman Sachs

    Goldman Sachs, and Facebook execs, and a select few insiders will get rich.

    Everyone else will get burned, when they realise a company which makes nothing, sells nothing, and has no intrinsic value is actually worthless.

    Dot Com Bust v2.0 here we come......

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Facepalm

      Someone, will make a lot of cash.

      But no-one daft enough to part with their money will cotton on that fast. It will be bought, then sold, then taken over, then someone will attempt to generate some cash from it by hawking all that user data to advertisers and bombarding people with flash animations about crap they don't want, and people will leave it in droves and the costs and losses will gradually all be written off.

      Or was that Skype? No, which one was it again?

  14. T.a.f.T.
    Alert

    lnkd didn't totally tank

    http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ALNKD

    Just as much tangible product (OK so maybe you can hire someone or get a job with it) and many fewer users but it didn't plumit totally. Facebook frenzy might cause more of a boom and bust though I guess?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    $100bn, for 500m claimed users...

    That's $200 per user.

    Which seems surprising to me, for an ad supported service.

    You'd need to sell a huge amount of advertising to make that a worthwhile investment.

    Unless you were also selling communications intelligence as well perhaps?

  16. Purple People Eater
    Facepalm

    Where have I seen this before....

    There is lots of hidden intrinsic value in facebook - it is starting to become the only www page. When is the last time you saw a commercial for a product on TV that displayed a URL for the product? Every one of them now is "find us on Facebook"

    Hmmm... wasn't this true for Myspace several years ago? How much are they worth again?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Re: Where have I seen this before....

      The stuff about "find us on Facebook" is true, and thus Facebook more or less owns all those companies' relationships with (potential) customers. That means there's value to be had, but it surprises me that people aren't trying to eliminate Facebook's role in all this, especially those companies whose brands are traditionally much, much bigger than Facebook's who have delegated a fair portion of their online marketing to the service.

  17. pith
    Big Brother

    Google

    I could never understand how google made money either or is worth anything, but advertising is obviously worth that much, with the addition of all of the personal data facebook is assimilating I can totally see it being worth a lot. Though I would have no idea how to quantify it!

    If they then move there ads outside of facebook and compete with google's adwords its anyones guess how much more/less it could be worth dependent on the result of that battle.

  18. NURREDIN

    BUY IT QUICK,SELL IT QUICK...

    If you don't get in early and sell at a profit, this stock is going to be a hot potato.

    Whoever holds it last will get burned. Facebook usage is already down in the U.S.

    and Canada ,and it had to happen sooner or later. The closer Facebook gets to an I.P.O., the more they have to show profitability, and that means more ads, more spam, and more marketing of the info of Facebook members. That's why Myspace failed. People don't go on these sites to make purchases, and sooner or later the advertisers figure that out. People tend to forget that Facebook has the same income model as the newspapers: ADVERTISING. When the advertisers don't see a return on investment, Facebook will fail just like Myspace did. Be Honest...When was the last time you went to Facebook to make a purchase? I rest my case.

  19. druck Silver badge
    Stop

    You may not touch it with a bargepole...

    ...but your pension company might be forced to. The rules of some pension funds compel them to invest in the 100 largest companies on the stock market, and Facebook will become one of them. So while you might avoid making personal investing this ridiculously overvalued tatmonger, your pension might take a big hit when the social networking bubble inevitably bursts.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Re: You may not touch it with a bargepole...

      Don't worry: your pension fund's management will happily invest in Dirty Diamonds Inc. and Industrial Pollutants Corp. to balance the risk. :-(

  20. Michael 28
    Devil

    one HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!!!!

    .......no "DR Evil" joke? ...."..."....."...."?Throw me a frikkin' bone here!

  21. Ooo-wait-BUT!
    Trollface

    Facebook's 'value' is in what it can sell (FB credits)

    $100billion? If I took that figure seriously I'd have a double hernia long before I stopped laughing.

    Or is that perhaps at _NEXT YEARS_ exchange rate?

  22. Ooo-wait-BUT!
    Facepalm

    ah... I see the problem now

    In the UK, a 'billion' was always assumed to be 1 million million... 1,000,000,000,000

    Globalisation has seen us adopt an American billion... 1,000,000,000

    Technology now offers us the Facebook billion... .00

    So at todays exchange rate, that values Facebook at roughly $100.00; yup, sounds about right.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like