Facebook Floundering

On August 3, Facebook shares closed at $21.09.

Depending who you listen to, the projections anchoring the current state budget say in November Facebook stock will trade at $35 – Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance’s view — or $45, the Legislative Analyst says.

If those estimates are true then the state will pocket $1.2 billion according to the Department of Finance and $2.1 billion the way the Legislative Analyst sees it.

As of August 3, shares are trading at a bit less than two-thirds of the amount the Brown administration wants them to be in November and just under half what the analyst predicts they will be.

That means, as of August 3, the tax receipts Brown expects the state to receive are $720 million rather than $1.2 billion and $1 billion instead of the $2.1 billion the analyst initially expected.

But there are 107 days to go until the issue really matters to state budget writers.

That’s when the employees promised Facebook stock as part of the initial offering, actually receive it.

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