Nasdaq Glitch Blamed for Facebook’s Abysmal IPO Performance

As we reported on Friday, Nasdaq is getting the blame for Facebook’s botched IPO launch and the subsequent poor trading performance in the days that followed. The remarks come from a court filin...
Nasdaq Glitch Blamed for Facebook’s Abysmal IPO Performance
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  • As we reported on Friday, Nasdaq is getting the blame for Facebook’s botched IPO launch and the subsequent poor trading performance in the days that followed.

    The remarks come from a court filing by Facebook and Morgan Stanley who seek to combine more than 40 state and federal lawsuits brought against Facebook and their lead underwriters stemming from the events of their May 18th initial public offering.

    Essentially, the filing states that Facebook and their underwriters didn’t do anything illegal or out of the ordinary regarding the IPO, and that the poor trading performance is more the result of Nasdaq’s, now infamous, trading desk computer glitch than anything else.

    The court filing explains:

    “The commencement of trading in Facebook shares was delayed as a result of problems with Nasdaq’s software systems, which impaired the orderly execution of trades and price levels,”

    Facebook also released all of the communications they had with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate filing in the months before the IPO period. This is a common practice for a company after the confidential period during an IPO ends.

    In the meantime, Facebook shares are trading up around $32, which should come as a relief to investors. The stock climb seems to coincide with ComScore’s latest report on the effectiveness of the company’s advertising model. According to ComScore, Facebook brand advertising does result in a significant lift when it comes time for consumers to purchase and select on brand over another.

    So, while we might not see Facebook trading back trading at $38 per share, there still seems to be a lot of interest in owning stock in the company. As with any investment, only time will tell.

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