Facebook, Facebook, Facebook....?

[Padraic]

Here's an argument for ya:

1.) Facebook is only overvalued in relation to other tech stocks. Do you agree? Does this matter?

2.) Facebook has over 900 million active users... it's an advertising machine, and online advertisement revenues are expected to grow by 20% this year and Facebook is in poll position to acquire much of it.

Can you counter this?
The point of these arguments being that Facebook isn't as bad as it seems.

[Wayne]

It isn't as bad as the media wants it to be and the one's that are so against Facebook. Here's some examples.

"You most be so dumb to buy facebook, look what happened to myspace." - Quote of an idiot. For one, Myspace was never half the size facebook is now, and Two, Myspace never entered the stock market.

" The company is over-valued, i'm queer blah blah " <- Quote of another idiot. One, Sure the IPO was way over-priced, but Facebook has already made it's foot print @ $30. It's settling out since all the morons dumped their shares the past few days. Expect gains over the next few days.

" Facebook is pointless, it only creates revenue from ads" <- Idiot # 3. It's revenue, period. 900 Million Active users, hello?

I think Facebook will Really take off once we win China over & the morons let their people use Facebook, Also find a way to distribute the ADs accordingly on mobile devices.. Nonetheless, a month or so when the lawsuits and the other nonsense settles, Facebook will find standing ground around the +$50 range and will gradually go up from there.

[Tim Tebow]

Facebook will make it out alive. Do not fear. Fear when people are greedy, Be greedy when people fear.

[Justin]

i bought 10,000 shares of facebook, won't be selling until it's $600 a share up there with google

[Steve2]

Show me the money. Their PE IS still 5 times that of Google, even at todays close. And their leadership is suspect when he says he is more interested in his social goals than making money for his company's shareholders. This one smalls like 1999 to me. I'm not buying it.

[MBTrader]

Facebook is not an advertising machine. It is an advertising dud, and it's only going to get worse.

Mobile devices are on the verge of surpassing the PC as the most frequent way of accessing the internet. With the US smartphone numbers increasing from 40% to now 50% of the phone market, more and more people are abandoning the PC, and accessing the web from their smartphones. The mobile revolution is only beginning. As the adoption of smartphones increases the relevancy of the PC decreases. 85% of Facebook's revenue comes from advertising, but that's all on the PC. From mobile, nada.

Already one third of online shoppers report the smartphone as their preferred method of accessing the web. We are in the midst of the next internet transformation, from PC to mobile. At the moment the only one making any money at all from mobile is Google. Facebook ain't no Google when it comes to figuring that out. Ask any company that has tried to go up against Google in the advertising department.

The problem for Facebook is that they don't make any money from mobile advertising, and they don't seem to have any plan to change that. That's a very, very big problem. No good having a lot of eyeballs, if you can't make any money off of them.

And then there's the problem of moat. How easy is it for someone to compete in the Social website arena? As we've seen from the demise of MySpace et al, and the growing popularity of linkedin and other social sites, competition for those eyeballs is going to get tougher. Right now Facebook is the big dog on the block, but the next generation of web users may find their own "In" social site, and the habits of today's users are bound to change as they move on in life. What's popular today may be gone tomorrow. Again, Facebook ain't no Google. They're easily replaceable.

All in all, Facebook just hasn't got that bright of a future. But if someone really wants to own stock in it, it's up to them. They may actually produce some promising growth for awhile. But personally, I don't think it's gonna last.

[Shannon]

facebook is forbidden in china, it a pity ,china has greatest population.

[David]

Don't really need to counter it because I wasn't foolish enough to buy FB, as you appear to have been. If you feel they can justify the revenue and earnings multiples they're fetching, Bon Apetit!

[Ryan]

Basically everyone expected it to be the next Google regarding advertising prowess. The only thing is that Facebook has been lagging in taking advantage of mobile advertising which a majority of its users are moving towards.

Now if most if not all of your income is derived from advertising and your not moving to where most of your users are going, I think that would pose a serious problem. Which for the most part a lot of people saw coming, not to mention a lot more competition in the social media market than before.

[Andres]

It could really go either way, speak to the experts: