Everyone's eyes are on the falling Facebook stock price, but CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg remains silent on the issue.
Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) stock is down about 17% from its $38 IPO price. But Zuckerberg has not commented publicly or issued a company statement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Silicon Valley rumors tell us that Facebook employees have been told to concentrate on work and not comment on the IPO fiasco.
Meanwhile, Nasdaq criticism continues and lawsuits pile up as investors who are left with more FB shares than they wanted - worth less than they bargained - feel cheated.
And Wall Street is left to bet on when or if FB stock will rebound.
As Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald pointed out, the reasons are growing as to why FB stock has a ways more to tumble.
"The company is only worth about $7.50 a share. And, no. That's not a typo. There is no missing zero or a placeholder," said Fitz-Gerald. "Revenue is already slowing and the company does not and cannot possibly dominate the mobile markets that are becoming the preferred channel for millions of people. Worse, startups are already cannibalizing Facebook's user base as concerns over privacy and who likes who mount."
Many blame Facebook's mobile strategy, or lack thereof, as an ongoing reason for the stock's less than stellar performance.
And this is something the silent Zuckerberg will have to address.
A mounting worry among industry analysts is that more and more of Facebook's massive 900 million user base increasingly uses smartphones and other mobile devices to access their Facebook accounts.
But these mobile users only see a limited version of the social network - meaning Facebook loses money. The company is only just beginning to experiment with how mobile ads might work.
Facebook's foray with app developer CrowdStar Inc. underscores just how misguided it mobile problems are.
In April, CrowdStar stopped making new games for Facebook and said it instead plans to focus on creating games for mobile devices such as Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android-based phones.
CrowdStar CEO Peter Relan told The Journal, "We don't see Facebook...as attractive a platform as we see the mobile platform, so we believe all our efforts in the future will be focused on the growth available in mobile."
The reason is that while the number of people accessing Facebook with their smartphones and tablet is increasingly growing, apps such as games cannot be accessed on the social network's mobile site.
In fact, Facebook cautioned in its IPO prospectus that a lack of mobile advertising was a risk factor. During Facebook's storied roadshow in early May, investors peppered Facebook executives with questions about their mobile strategy.
Until the company boasts a stronger mobile strategy, many investors will vote to sit this stock out.
FB closed at $31.91 Friday, down about 17% from where it started trading.
Related Articles and News: