Facebook's upcoming initial public offering now has a valuation goal: the company is expecting to obtain a valuation ranging from $85 to $95 billion based on the price the company will offer its first public shares at.
According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, Facebook plans to place a "high-$20s to mid-$30s" share price. If this information turns out to be accurate, Facebook have the largest valuation for an Internet company ever at the time of an IPO. Google, by comparison, had a valuation of $23 billion when its IPO occurred (Google began trading at $85 a share), which is currently the largest valuation for an Internet company at the time of an IPO. In December, Facebook partner Zynga launched its own IPO, where shares began trading at $10, which valued the company at $8.9 billion. In addition to Zynga, online coupon site Groupon recently held its own highly publicized IPO, launching in November with a valuation of roughly $13 billion.
Facebook's estimated valuation would place it behind Amazon but ahead of HP, according to the Wall Street Journal's article. The company will be traded under the symbol "FB" on the NASDAQ stock market. Previous reports suggested that Facebook was seeking a $100 billion valuation, which the company could still reach if it places a slightly higher pricing on its initial shares. Facebook's IPO is believed to take place on May 18. The company filed for its IPO on Feb. 1.
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