Facebook Inc.'s 6.3 percent drop yesterday, after the end of restrictions on share sales by its biggest investors, was the second-largest post-lock-up decline among companies that have gone public since January 2011.

Only social-game maker Zynga Inc. tumbled more, losing 7.9 percent, on the first day that insiders could start selling their stakes, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That was the largest one-day post-lock-up descent among the 20 biggest initial public offerings since January 1, 2011. The slump yesterday left Menlo Park, California-based Facebook at a record low after a 60 percent increase in the number of shares available for trading.

Under restrictions worked out with IPO underwriters, early investors agree not to sell their holdings for a preset period after a market debut to keep from flooding the market with shares. Facebook's decline reflects concern that more sales will follow in the coming months as additional lock-ups expire and as the company struggles to wring sales from a growing customer base, said Rory Maher, an analyst at Capstone Investments Inc.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.