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Facebook earnings: Skepticism on all fronts

Like a growing number of teens, Wall Street is emphatically meh on Facebook.

Though the social network is expected to show marked improvement on mobile and 43 percent year-over-year growth in advertising revenue, investor confidence remains low. Facebook shares, stagnant since the company's last report, suggest that the market trusts the long-term health of the social-networking service the way a parent relies on the word of an adolescent child.

As far as numbers go, Wall Street expects Facebook to report $1.44 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $0.13 when it details its first-quarter financial … Read more

Jack Dorsey says Twitter 'not even thinking' IPO -- report

Although there has been much speculation in recent months that Twitter is ramping up for an initial public offering, company co-founder Jack Dorsey has suggested that nothing is imminent.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Dorsey reportedly said that Twitter "is not even thinking" about an IPO at the moment.

"A lot of people think of this as a goal you have to get to but it's a milestone," Dorsey told Bloomberg during an interview in New York. "If you think about it as a goal you're rushing towards it and then stop, and … Read more

Budweiser's intimate, dangerous way to make Facebook friends

So you've had a couple of beers.

You meet a nice person of your target sex. Well, they seem nice, given that you've had a couple of beers.

At some point, one of you raises your beer cup to clink cups with the other.

The minute the cups clink, you are indelibly linked. At least you are if you're using Budweiser's special Facebook-friending cups.… Read more

Facebook schedules annual shareholder meeting for June 11

Facebook announced Friday that it will hold its first annual shareholder meeting on June 11 at the Westin San Francisco Airport hotel.

The company's stock, which closed at $26.85 per share today, has seen brighter days, though not many since its bungled initial public offering. As such, we should anticipate heated discussions around the social network's underperforming shares and pressure on CEO Mark Zuckerberg to turn things around. Oh, to be a fly on those walls.

Facebook's official agenda is less exciting. The company will hold a vote to re-elect its eight board directors, not including … Read more

Longtime Facebook board member Jim Breyer stepping down

Jim Breyer, the venture capitalist whose firm Accel Partners made an early bet on Facebook, is stepping down from Facebook's board, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday.

Bryer courted co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook's early days and eventually got him to agree to take a $12.7 million investment that valued the company at $93 million. What a bet that turned out to be -- for Breyer and his firm. Accel sold $2.1 billion worth of shares into Facebook's IPO last May. Last October, Breyer personally cashed in more than $81.1 million … Read more

Facebook's Finch stickers put livelier face on messaging

Facebook is rolling out a new animated sticker pack created by illustrator Matt Jones as part of a much larger effort to make messaging more human.

Stickers, which are essentially a character-driven interpretation on emoticons, made their first appearance in Facebook's iOS application in mid April. The social network has since added its warm-and-fuzzy, and sometimes kooky, digital machinations to the Messenger application for Android. Facebook will eventually bring the characters to its other messaging apps as well.

Facebook announced Friday the release of a new sticker pack based on a character Jones created called Finch. The pack features … Read more

Zuckerberg's political action group adds Ballmer, Gates

Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us political action group has added a few more tech heavy hitters to its membership roster.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, and entrepreneur and investor Sean Parker have all signed on in support of the Facebook CEO's group aimed at reforming immigration. AllThingsD earlier reported the news, and CNET confirmed the report with FWD.us.

"We've been excited by the momentum we continue to see as more members of the tech community contribute to the national debate to improve our economic future, and support the … Read more

Facebook's latest mobile acquisition: It's all about your data

With the purchase of Parse, Facebook has instantly moved from consumer social network to business service provider, playing host to the back end of thousands of mobile applications. In so doing, the company has bought access to data it could otherwise not touch.

On Thursday, Facebook announced that it agreed to acquire 2-year-old Parse for an undisclosed sum, though multiple reports peg the value at $85 million in cash and stock.

Parse serves as host to "tens of thousands" of iOS, Android, Windows, and HTML5 apps. The company offers mobile developers a convenience by taking care of back-end … Read more

Facebook purchases Parse to promote mobile app development

Facebook has agreed to purchase Parse, a service that allows developers to build mobile applications for iOS, Android, Windows, and mobile web.

The social network announced Thursday that it picked up the mobile-focused company for an undisclosed sum and said it plans to continue offering Parse's products and services. The deal is reported to be worth $85 million, according to TechCrunch.

"By making Parse a part of Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices," Doug Purdy, Facebook's director of product management, said. "Parse makes this … Read more