For those scoring at home, it was exactly one month ago today that Facebook
Everything seemed so simple then. CNBC had cameras pointing at the hovering crowd around the Nasdaq building waiting for the shares to begin trading. When the stock opened in the low $40s after a few false starts, the sentiment was generally upbeat.
The underwriters got it right -- or so it seemed. The social-networking giant didn't have some ridiculous pop at the open to make it seem as if Facebook was leaving money at the table, yet the IPO buyers at $38 were being rewarded for their wager.
We all know what happened then. The stock broke below $38 early the following week, and it's been a popular punch line ever since.
Do you know how many companies have gone public in the U.S. since Facebook's belly-flop of an IPO? Zero. The prolific debutante's plunge killed the party for every company that was hoping to follow suit. This won't last, of course.
AutoTrader, Realogy, Qualys, and iWatt are just some of the companies that have moved ahead with the filing requirements to go public earlier this month. Underwriters will finally get one of these companies to market in a couple of weeks, and if it doesn't tank the pipeline will begin flowing again.
Facebook's shortcomings, however, haven't affected only itself and the companies swinging away in the on-deck circle. Let's review the performance of the three stocks that were seen as the biggest coattail plays since the night Facebook's IPO priced at $38.
|
Company |
5/16/12 |
6/15/12 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Zynga |
$8.27 | $5.56 | (33%) |
|
MeetMe |
$3.91 | $2.23 | (43%) |
|
Renren |
$6.24 | $4.51 | (28%) |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
After bouncing back above $30 last week, Facebook has been able to shave its shortfall to 21% below its $38 debut. Social-discovery leader Zynga -- accounting for 15% of Facebook's revenue during the first three months of the year -- along with Quepasa parent MeetMe and Chinese leading social-networking website operator Renren have all fallen even harder.
Now that Facebook seems to have bottomed out -- at least temporarily -- will these three stocks bounce back even better?
The market itself has discounted the broken IPO, the tightened spigot of new offerings, and the plunge of the bandwagon plays. Nasdaq Composite stocks have climbed 2% in that time, even though shares of Nasdaq OMX Group
The first month of Facebook trading has been eventful. Investors are now hoping the company's second month continues the trend started late last week of a beaten-down debutante that claws its way back to respectability.
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