The $50 billion valuation Goldman Sachs assigned social-networking company Facebook (META) is far too high, according to a Bloomberg survey of investors, analysts and traders. Bloomberg asked 1,000 of its customers whether they thought Facebook was really worth that enormous chunk of change, and most said, “nah, not really.”
Sixty-nine percent said Facebook is overvalued at that price, 10 percent said $50 billion is a fair value for Facebook, and 4 percent are bullish even at these levels. It’s perhaps not surprising that industry types find Facebook a tad overpriced, since by one measurement it’s one of the most expensive stocks available right now. Plus, there’s some skittishness out there about doing business with Goldman Sachs. As one client told Bloomberg, “There’s too little financial information and track history to value the company like this. Besides, you do not want to buy any of Goldman’s proprietary positions that they’re willing to sell.”
Meanwhile, shares in Facebook have declined 7 percent in SecondMarket trading, down to a $65.5 billion valuation vs. $70 billion a week ago, according to TechCrunch. There’s another share auction slated for next week, so perhaps we’ll get some more price discovery out of that.
mtaylor [at] observer.com | @mbrookstaylor
