Facebook Shares Fly High Then Fizzle in Public Debut

Facebook goes public | BCBusiness
Facebook’s shares sizzled then fizzled during its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

The social network’s shares seesawed around $40 a share on its first day of public trading on the Nasdaq.

After one of the most anticipated initial public offerings in recent history, Facebook is seeing its hot share prices stagnate and plateau on its first day as a publicly traded company.
 
The social network, represented on the Nasdaq under the symbol FB, opened trading at $42.50, raising up to $18.4 billion for company insiders and investors. Shares beat the expected IPO price of $38, quickly hitting $45 in early trading.
 
Friday’s public offering had investors scrambling, preparing to scoop up as many shares as possible for most of the week. But Facebook’s gains were modest and prices lost their steam, falling back to $38 as more than 275 million shares changed hands.
 
The seesawing stock numbers raises some tough questions for the fledgling public company: Does Facebook’s mediocre debut indicate it’s just a flash in the pan?