Facebook, the definitive name in all things social, has filed papers for an initial public offering, setting the stage for a massive overview of just what makes Facebook one of the leading brands in the world. With a projected goal of $5 billion, Facebook is aiming not just to be the largest Silicon Valley IPO in history, but hoping to join the big leagues with such companies as Exxon Mobil, Microsoft and Apple.
While an IPO could mean big things for Facebook, which currently sees about $1 billion a year in profits, questions start to arise on just how other companies dependent on Facebook will view the news. Facebook reported that well over 85% of their revenues come directly from advertising. Reporting just over $3.7 billion in revenues last year (an 88 percent increase over 2010), Facebook is a major stakeholder in the future of companies such as Zynga.
Zynga has a lot riding on how Facebook earns, just as Facebook should be vested in Zynga’s continued success. In 2011, Facebook saw close to 12 percent of all revenues directly earned from Zynga. They were the only company to even get close to accounting for 10 percent and beyond. While Facebook certainly does not need Zynga to operate, the social gaming firm is certainly still dependent on Facebook.
Particulars for the IPO are just starting to come out, but it has been noted that Facebook will run under the ticker symbol as ‘FB;’ easily enough. The company has also reported some big numbers; 845 million users, 483 million daily active, and just over $1.8 billion in operating income to work with. It has been noted that daily active users is up 43% over last year.
It is also noted that Facebook has revealed some rather interesting news pertaining to mobile users, all 425 million of them. The social network literally sees no meaningful income from those using the officially sanctioned app for both iOS and Android. The company affirmed that while they do not show ads, the potential for mobile growth is certainly a huge growth avenue for the social networking hub.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented to investors, saying that "We’re going public for our employees and our investors. We made a commitment to them when we gave them equity that we’d work hard to make it worth a lot and make it liquid, and this IPO is fulfilling our commitment.”
