ItwouldbealltooeasytosaythatFacebook'smarketmeltdowniscomingtoanend.Afterall,MarkZuckerberg'ssocialnetworkburnedasmuchas$50billionofshareholders'wealthinjustacouplemonths.Toputthatincontext,sinceitsdebut(初次登台)onNASDAQinMay,FacebookhaslostvaluenearlyequaltoYahoo,AOL,Zynga,Yelp,Pandora,OpenTable,Groupon,LinkedIn,andAngie'sListcombined,plusthatofthebulkofthepubliclytradednewspaperindustry:
Asshockingasthisutterfailuremaybetothenearly1billionfaithfulFacebookusersaroundtheworld,it'snosurprisetoanyonewhoreadtheinitialpublicoffering(IPO)prospectus(首次公开募股说明书).Worsestill,allthecrisesthatemergedwhenthecompanydebuted-overpricedshares,poorcorporategovernance,hugechallengestothecorebusiness,andadamagedbrand-remaintoday.FacebooklookslikeaprimeexampleofwhatWallStreetcallsafallingknife-thatis,onethatcancostinvestorstheirfingersiftheytrytocatchit.
Startwiththevaluation(估值).TojustifyastockpriceclosetothelowerendoftheprojectedrangeintheIPO,say$28ashare,Facebook'sfuturegrowthwouldhaveneededtomatchthatofGooglesevenyearsearlier.Thatwouldhaverequiredincreasingrevenuebysome80percentannuallyandmaintaininghighprofitmarginsallthewhile.
That'snothappening.Inthefirsthalfof2012,Facebookreportedrevenueof$2.24billion,up38percentfromthesameperiodin2011.Atthesametime,thecompany'scostssurgedto$2.6billioninthesix-monthperiod.
Thisso-soperformancereflectstheAchilles'heelofFacebook'sbusinessmodel,whichthecompanyclearlystatedinalistofriskfactorsassociatedwithitsIPO:ithasn'tyetfiguredouthowtoadvertiseeffectivelyonmobiledevices,ThenumberofFacebookusersaccessingthesiteontheirphonessurgedby67percentto543millioninthelastquarter,ormorethanhalfitscustomerbase.
Numbersareonlypartoftheproblem.ThemountingpileoffailurecreatesanegativefeedbackloopthatthreatensFacebook'sfutureinotherways.Indeed,themoreFacebook'sdisappointmentinthemarketiscatalogued,theworseFacebook'simagebecomes.Notonlydoesthatthreatentoruboffonusers,it'sbadforrecruitmentandretentionoftalentedhackers,whoarethelifebloodofZuckerberg'screation.
YetthebrilliantCEOcanignorethesadnessandcomplaintsofhisshareholdersthankstothesuper-votingstockheholds.Thisarrangementalsowasfullydisclosedatthetimeoftheoffering.It'sapitysofewinvestorsapparentlybotheredtodotheirhomework.
61.WhatcanbeinferredaboutFacebookfromthefirstparagraph?
A.Itsmarketmeltdownhasbeeneasilyhalted.
B.Ithasincreasedtradewiththenewspaperindustry.
C.Ithasencounteredutterfailuresinceitsstockdebut.
D.Itsshareholdershaveinvested$50billioninasocialnetwork.
62.ThecrisesFacebookisfacing_____
A.havebeendisclosedintheIPOprospectus
B.aretheuniversalrisksWallStreetconfronts
C.disappointitsfaithfulusers
D.haveexistedforalongtime
63.Tomakeitsstockpricereasonable,Facebookhasto____
C.keepenormouslyprofitable
D.investadditional$2.6billion
64.Itcanbeinferredfromthecontextthatthe"Achilles'heel"(Line1,Para.5)refersto____
65.WhateffectwillFacebook'sfailureinthemarkethave?
A.Itsusers'benefitswillbethreatened.
B.Talentedhackerswilltakedownthewebsite.
C.TheCEOwillholdthesuper-votingstock.
D.Thecompany'sinnovationstrengthwillbedamaged.
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