Facebook stock follows market, falls sharply

NEW YORK (AP) ? Facebook's stock fell Friday with the broader market following a weak jobs report that showed the U.S. economy adding far fewer jobs than expected.

Shares of Facebook Inc. fell $1.88, or 6.4 percent, to close at $27.72 on Friday. That's down 27 percent from its initial public offering price of $38. And it's down about 13 percent for the week.

Facebook began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market two weeks ago Friday on a day marred by trading glitches and general investor confusion. The IPO capped the worst week for the U.S. stock market so far this year.

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian started coverage of Facebook's stock Friday with an "Outperform" rating and a target price of $37. The keyword, he said, is potential.

"Despite near-term headwinds from the shift to mobile and sluggish social game trends, we believe Facebook represents an attractive long-term investment in advertising, digital media, payments and e-commerce," he wrote in a note to investors. He is referring to concerns about the company's ability to make money from the growing number of people who access Facebook through their mobile devices, where advertising is still scant.

Sebastian added that Facebook collects an "unprecedented amount of personal data and is in the early stages of monetizing these assets via targeted advertising."

Morningstar analyst James Krapfel, meanwhile, advised investors to be cautious and said the company "is likely to disappoint investors over the next 12 to 18 months."

Other social media company stocks declined as well. Shares of online game maker Zynga Inc. slid 25 cents, or 4 percent, to close at $6.01. LinkedIn Corp., the online social network for professionals, fell $4.59, or 4.8 percent, to $91.51. Online reviews site Yelp Inc., meanwhile, fell $1.02, or 6.1 percent, to $15.69.

Associated Press

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