Archive for the ‘finance’ Category

zynga and the [potential] folly of relying on others

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Zynga is getting ready to IPO.

They’re the group that does “Farmville” and other games on facebook. The problem with their planned $1B IPO, though, is that they rely completely on facebook’s continued existence to make any of their earnings.

Last year their profits were in the neighborhood of $400M. That’s a lot of dough. But when facebook declines, or folks quit playing games on it, what will happen to the company?

Seems like a LOT of investors could get taken big time on this one – if they hold onto the stock the way you’re “supposed to” – as an investment, and not a short-term gamble.