Should You Buy Shares of Facebook? — Dollars and Sense [VIDEO]
Everyone’s been buzzing about Facebook’s IPO for weeks. But as shares of the social networking site began trading on Friday, analysts warned that not everyone should jump into the fray.
“Yes, it’s the biggest investing storyline of the year, but I would tell the average investor: stay away from Facebook,” said Andrew Tonner, financial editor of the Motley Fool. “Sit on the sidelines. Having interest in the IPO doesn’t necessarily mean you need to participate in it.”
Facebook’s stock offering, initially priced at about $38 a share, is expected to raise $16 billion and value the company at $104 billion. But for investors, experts say there are dangerous risks, pointing to recent technology IPOs like LinkedIn, Zynga, Pandora and Groupon in which only one — LinkedIn — has recently traded above its IPO price.
Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments in Chicago, said there was “no way” she’d buy Facebook shares as an individual investor on the first day of trading. “The institutions have gotten there first,” she said. “And we’re getting their sloppy seconds.”
As of this writing, shares of Facebook are trading at just under $41 — about 7.5 percent higher than the opening price.
Watch Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ring the NASDAQ bell from the company headquarters on Friday.
[ABC News]