Debate House Prices
In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non MoneySaving matters are no longer permitted. This includes wider debates about general house prices, the economy and politics. As a result, we have taken the decision to keep this board permanently closed, but it remains viewable for users who may find some useful information in it. Thank you for your understanding.
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site feedback for updates.
Facebook preparing an IPO
Comments
-
PE of 100 seems quite excessive, though does Facebook really earn $1BN in profits? (seems somewhat hefty). Was it Warren Buffet who said its often easier to spot an over valued stock than an undervalued one?
Shame that Skype was bought by Microsoft at a turnover multiple of 20 rather than floated at that valuation - that I would definitely have shorted.
EBITDA* of $2,000,000,000 and net profits of $1,000,000,000 apparently. If they do float then they'll need to release audited financial statements.
Microsoft might be a good short itself. You have to wonder where the growth is going to come from and big tech companies seem prone to falling off their perches (eg Nokia, Marconi, Palm).
EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation. In other words, profit once you strip out some of the biggest non-salary costs of a services company!0 -
Well the investor detailed here:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/54495c12-afa9-11df-b45b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1PCPRSByO
has trebled his money on this valuation.
People putting in money in April 2009 have seen it rise almost 20x! Goldman Sachs put in $1,500,000,000 at a valuation of $50,000,000,000 so don't worry, they'll do ok out of this.
This is 100x what the company is predicted to earn this year. Price looks toppy to me.
Indeed, I think most of that is based on the value of the data they have (EG everyone's personal details).
That is the part I think is like the .com boom. Personally I think this part of the business is causing the over valuation.
Like Cleaver said, who actually buys off tailord add's I am sure some do but I never do.
The old saying "people like to buy, not to be sold to" still rings true. One thing I think tech always overlooks.0 -
If their advertising revenue is $4 billion as suggested, that's $8 per annum per user. Not sure how much they get per click but assume its 1 to 2 cents or even less. If so, someone must be clicking on a lot of stuff.0
-
Friends Reunuited is a warning about how quickly such websites can go out of fashion.Been away for a while.0
-
I think Facebook has gone past being a flash in the pan and I think it's become part of a lot of people's every day lives, so I think it's here to stay and is worth a lot of money. But $100 billion? Seriously?
I presume most of the money the site makes is through advertising. But just out of interest, who here who is on Facebook has ever clicked an advert they saw on Facebook? For that matter, who ever clicks any advert they see on the internet full stop? I don't get the internet.
I think it is concerning at how pc's/the internet can track products you may have been looking at in a spare moment, & then when you go onto alternative websites (i have experienced this with hotmail recently) tailors the ads on that site to your recent browsing history. In example, I have been searching for cheap(ish) hotel rooms recently. When I later log in to my emails (or other websites) their are advertising banners for cheap hotel rooms in the same locations as I've been looking.
Another example is ad banners which have identified my location & advertise the cheapest X or Y in (enter local area). Some of these ads have been more specific than town/city.:eek:
The way some people subliminally take in this information can be an additional concern.It's getting harder & harder to keep the government in the manner to which they have become accustomed.0 -
EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation. In other words, profit once you strip out some of the biggest non-salary costs of a services company!
The whole idea of capitalising in house development and amortising it over a few years seems somewhat dubious to me. Its not like FB is going to reach a stable platform and then reduce its development overhead, instead they'll just tinker and keep bringing out ill-thought out changes (like the photo viewer/ enter is send rather than new line).
Its hard to see how a $100BN valuation could ever be supported as the present value of future cash flows.0 -
With supreme timing, today brings news that Facebook seems to have stopped growing in both the USA and the UK.
Naturally facebook dispute this but had to smile at the "decline in use could be due to the nice weather".
It took Amazon 10 years to recover is dotcom peak in late 1999.
Likewise ebay is the same price now as it was in 2000.
The idea that Facebook or Linkedin can continue to grow exponentially is ludicrous.US housing: it's not a bubble - Moneyweek Dec 12, 20050 -
Microsoft might be a good short itself. You have to wonder where the growth is going to come from and big tech companies seem prone to falling off their perches (eg Nokia, Marconi, Palm).
Isn't Microsoft just valued like a utility stock these days ?
PE ratio of about 10
Yield approx 2.5%US housing: it's not a bubble - Moneyweek Dec 12, 20050 -
lemonjelly wrote: »I think it is concerning at how pc's/the internet can track products you may have been looking at in a spare moment, & then when you go onto alternative websites tailors the ads on that site to your recent browsing history.
Maybe that's why I'm getting all those fleshlight ads.0 -
Kennyboy66 wrote: »Isn't Microsoft just valued like a utility stock these days ?
PE ratio of about 10
Yield approx 2.5%
You're not the only person who thinks that:Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) are now longer growth high techs, as their stock performances resemble a plodding public utility. Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE: CV) offers a better alternative for investors, as it is a small cap public utility with a strong upside and a high yield.
http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/Microsoft-MSFT-Intel-INTC-Yahoo-YHOO-Resemble-Utilities-Central-Vermont-Public-Service-CV-higher-upside-yield/s/article/view/p/mid/1/id/1922/0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 452.4K Spending & Discounts
- 240.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 617.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 175.6K Life & Family
- 254.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards