Another tough week for Facebook
<b>week in review</b> Facebook stock hits new lows as the company struggles to please investors. Also: Apple and Samsung go at it in court, and Twitter takes an Olympic misstep.
It's been another brutal and busy week for Facebook, which saw its stock dip below $20 a share for the first time since its May IPO. And the bleeding just won't stop.
Facebook closed on Thursday just above$20 a share -- almost half the debut price. This despite Facebook's latest wave of selling, which began when Zynga spooked investors with its lousy earnings report last Wednesday and continued with Facebook's own unspectacular earnings. And word that some big boys have dumped the stock hasn't helped. The Wall Street Journal reported that Fidelity, one of Facebook's largest institutional investors, sold some 1.9 million shares across 21 of its mutual funds in June.
The stock, however, is up this morning. But that doesn't change the outlook much. On Wednesday came word of three executives leaving the company: Director of Platform Partnerships Ethan Beard; Platform Marketing Director Katie Mitic; and Mobile Platform Marketing Manager Jonathan Matus.
Meanwhile, Facebook announced on Thursday that it has relaunched Facebook Stories, "meant to celebrate the people who connect and share in innovative ways." Of course they're also meant to boost the public's opinion of the social network.
Facebook also said this week that it plans to move all of its 950 million users to Timeline this fall. That means it's time for users to weed their profiles of any potentially embarrassing old posts, which may become more prominent with the Timeline-style presentation.
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