The moment the tech industry at large has been waiting for with bated breath is about to transpire. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is planning to file for its IPO next Wednesday. Did I mention it’s expected to be the largest public offering in tech history ?
Online opinions appear to be across the board. While some are excited for the upcoming news to break next week, others think the numbers are insane.
Well, you probably already knew that. Analysts are anticipating a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion for the social networking behemoth. On Wednesday, trades for Facebook shares were halted on the secondary market.
In any case, the Facebook
offering is expected to be one of the largest IPOs ever -- with some
reports saying the company will be raising $10 billion on a $100 million
valuation.
That amount is presumably to match its huge
consumer growth and also revenue explosion. Users now number 800 million
-- a figure that is likely to hit one billion this year. Revenue, which
was reportedly close to $4 billion in 2011, is expected to be higher by
another third in 2012.
Facebook will need the strong numbers if it
wants to impress investors, although the social networking site's
leadership insists that it remains focused on products over dollars.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hedged the point, even as he sang his same familiar strategic tune of the last few years.
