Facebook's Friday-morning IPO will be priced between $34 and $38 per share, according to AllThingsD's sources. That puts the overall valuation up to $104 billion. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the Facebook investor roadshow was generating "lackluster interest," but that doesn't seem to be the case as the IPO gets closer.
Indeed, the very same morning, Reuters reported that the Facebook IPO was "already oversubscribed." Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he would buy Facebook shares at any price. But many investors and analysts remain skeptical, pointing to Facebook's recently weak revenue and inability to monetize mobile access, which its users increasingly prefer.
Last month, from Facebook's paperwork related to its acquisition of Instagram, analysts expected a lower price of around $31 per share. Despite negative news about Facebook's inability to capture mobile revenue, expectations have risen since then. Last week, Facebook announced App Center, a way to promote mobile apps for all major platforms, which could be a strong new source of revenue.
The intense interest in Facebook's IPO is driving the industry into a frenzy, but the truth is that there really isn't a precedent for this. Facebook will be a new kind of public company. We'll just have to see how the market handles it.
The official pricing will be announced Thursday, and Facebook will be listed as "FB" on the Nasdaq Friday morning.
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