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Facebook tops 300m users
Thursday, September 17, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is making enough money to cover its costs and now has 300 million users, the worlds largest social networking site said on Tuesday, proving the Internets newest star industry can be a viable business.
Facebook is now generating enough cash to cover its operating expenses, as well as the capital spending needed to maintain its fast-growing service.
Analysts said this shows the financial viability of Facebook, which has faced questions about its underlying business model, despite its popularity, and was a good sign for a potential initial public offering.
Its certainly meaningful to show that this is absolutely the real deal, said Broadpoint Amtech analyst Ben Schachter. They are executing. People are spending money on the site.
Since its creation in a Harvard dorm room five years ago, Facebook has emerged as one of the Internets most popular destinations and is increasingly challenging the Webs established powerhouses like Yahoo Inc and Google Inc.
Facebook unveiled a revamped search engine last month and is currently testing an online payment system. Facebook users have tripled from about 100 million a year ago.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post on the company site on Tuesday that Facebook reached its goal of being free cash flow positive in its most recently ended quarter. The company had previously projected reaching the target sometime in 2010.
This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term, said Zuckerberg in the blog post.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is making enough money to cover its costs and now has 300 million users, the worlds largest social networking site said on Tuesday, proving the Internets newest star industry can be a viable business.
Facebook is now generating enough cash to cover its operating expenses, as well as the capital spending needed to maintain its fast-growing service.
Analysts said this shows the financial viability of Facebook, which has faced questions about its underlying business model, despite its popularity, and was a good sign for a potential initial public offering.
Its certainly meaningful to show that this is absolutely the real deal, said Broadpoint Amtech analyst Ben Schachter. They are executing. People are spending money on the site.
Since its creation in a Harvard dorm room five years ago, Facebook has emerged as one of the Internets most popular destinations and is increasingly challenging the Webs established powerhouses like Yahoo Inc and Google Inc.
Facebook unveiled a revamped search engine last month and is currently testing an online payment system. Facebook users have tripled from about 100 million a year ago.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post on the company site on Tuesday that Facebook reached its goal of being free cash flow positive in its most recently ended quarter. The company had previously projected reaching the target sometime in 2010.
This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term, said Zuckerberg in the blog post.
