Facebook將面對股東集體訴訟 Facebook faces IPO class action lawsuits

Facebook will face two class-action lawsuits after a federal judge said shareholders could pursue their case against the social network, which plaintiffs claim hid concerns about its growth forecasts ahead of its $16bn initial public offering.

Facebook將面對兩起集體訴訟。此前一名聯邦法官表示，Facebook股東可以對這家社交網絡提起訴訟，原告聲稱Facebook在160億美元的首次公開發行(IPO)之前隱瞞了對其增長預測的擔憂。

The world’s largest social network cut its revenue forecasts in the middle of its IPO roadshow, ahead of the offering in May 2012, amid concerns that consumers were switching to using the site on mobile, where it was unclear if it could generate the same degree of growth from advertisements.

2012年5月的IPO之前，由於擔心消費者會轉而在移動端連接其網站，這家全球最大社交網絡曾在路演過程中下調營收預期。當時不清楚Facebook能否在移動端創造同樣程度的廣告增長。

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive, and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operating officer, are among the defendants at Facebook, being sued by two classes of investors — retail and institutional. The complaint was brought by three state and local retirement plans in the US, lead by the North Carolina state treasurer and five individual investors.

Facebook首席執行官馬克丠克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)和Facebook首席運營官謝里爾儠德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)均被列入Facebook一方的被告，他們被散戶和機構投資者這兩類投資者起訴。這一起訴由美國三個州政府和地方退休計劃提起，領頭的是北卡羅來納州財政部長和五名個人投資者。

Shares in Facebook collapsed following the IPO, falling almost 50 per cent in the first three months, as investors worried that it might never generate as much advertising revenue on mobile as it had from the desktop site.

由於投資者擔心Facebook或許永遠都不能在移動端產生與桌面版網站同樣多的廣告營收，Facebook股價在IPO之後曾出現暴跌，在頭三個月內跌去近50%。

However, improvements to the mobile app and marketers’ fast adoption of targeted advertising on Facebook, helped the company grow mobile revenue and it now generates more than three-quarters of its total advertising revenue from ads on mobile devices. Three and a half years on, Facebook’s stock has now soared almost 180 per cent from its first day of trading.

然而，對移動應用的改進以及市場營銷人員對Facebook定向廣告的迅速接納，幫助Facebook獲得了移動端營收的增長。如今，Facebook總的廣告收入中超過四分之三來自移動設備上投放的廣告。在IPO三年半之後，Facebook股價如今比上市首日高出近180%。