Facebook crashes, then recovers, on earnings news

Investors are very nervous about where this volatile stock is headed.

By Kim Peterson Jan 30, 2013 6:07PM
Facebook (FB) shares immediately tanked after its fourth-quarter earnings report came out Wednesday afternoon, plunging as much as 9% before recovering to a 1% loss.

Investors didn't really have any reason to hate the results. Facebook had a clear beat on both earnings and revenue. So what gives? Perhaps Wall Street is just looking for any excuse to dump the stock, which has risen more than 50% since last fall. Investors are clearly jittery about this one.
Peter Kafka at AllThingsD notes that there weren't any red flags in the numbers. Revenue is growing and expenses seem reasonable. "So if you sold today, my best guess is that you wanted to see much more growth," he adds.

Investors seemed to warm up to Facebook after the initial horror. And all of this took place before the 5 p.m. ET conference call with analysts, so maybe CEO Mark Zuckerberg can cheer up the crowd a little.

At any rate, here are the numbers:
  • Profit was 17 cents a share on revenue of $1.59 billion.
  • Analysts were expecting 15 cents a share on revenue of around $1.52 billion.
  • Advertising revenue rose 41%.
  • Mobile revenue is now almost a quarter of total ad revenue.
  • Operating margin fell to 46% from 55% a year earlier.

You can read a more detailed earnings report here.


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Tags: Earnings
6Comments
Jan 30, 2013 6:47PM
Jan 30, 2013 7:34PM
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POS muppet stock that the big banks IPO'ed to make a quick buck.  Facebook is just one of many reasons why "investors" are and will not come back to this farse of a market.
Jan 30, 2013 8:34PM
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Wall Street piss pots have been trying right from the beginning to push Zuckerburg out and most likely put in place one of their monkey's from Wall Street to run the company. Wall Street as well as those idiots on CNBC have been pulling the same trick on Apple, ie ruining / trashing the company.
Jan 30, 2013 8:19PM
Jan 30, 2013 7:35PM
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Looks like another computer algorithm driven flash crash. I bet those eTrade babies are going to be washing their diapers tonight. 

 

Q: What's dumber than a computer that sells a $30 stock for $20?

 

A: A computer that manages to buy a $30 stock for $20, and then turns around a millisecond later and sells it for $20.01.

 

So much for smart technology. Sadly, this is the new normal in markets.

 

 

Jan 30, 2013 8:44PM
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The current business plan is too iffy but now they have the capital to grow new ideas. It will be interesting to see this stock in five years.

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