Facebook as public firm has some jitters

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MENLO PARK, Calif., May 21 (UPI) -- Facebook share values fell early Monday following one of the most highly anticipated U.S. initial public offerings in years, Nasdaq data said.

Nasdaq delayed the start of the Facebook IPO Friday on fear if its shares were available at the opening bell, pandemonium might ensue.

But Facebook shares failed to make that first-day "pop" -- really taking off. Instead, underwriters had to shore up the stock to maintain the company's $38 per share opening price, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Facebook may have suffered from overexposure with some of the recent company news sharply negative.

Just a few days before Friday's IPO, General Motors Co. said it was not going to extend its advertising contract with Facebook because the payback was insufficient. The company had also reported slower gains, in part, because of problems generating revenue from mobile phones.

It turns out more than half of Facebook's visitors access the site through mobile devices.

In addition, Facebook founder and Chief Operating Officer Mark Zuckerberg recently spent $1 billion buying Instagram, a company less than 3 years old that has yet to make a profit. While the decision may or may not pay off from a business point of view, it was widely reported Zuckerberg made the purchase without informing Facebook board members.