Facebook将面对股东集体诉讼 Facebook faces IPO class action lawsuits

Facebook will face two class-action lawsuits after a federal judge said shareholders could pursue their case against the social network, which plaintiffs claim hid concerns about its growth forecasts ahead of its $16bn initial public offering.

Facebook将面对两起集体诉讼。此前一名联邦法官表示，Facebook股东可以对这家社交网络提起诉讼，原告声称Facebook在160亿美元的首次公开发行(IPO)之前隐瞒了对其增长预测的担忧。

The world’s largest social network cut its revenue forecasts in the middle of its IPO roadshow, ahead of the offering in May 2012, amid concerns that consumers were switching to using the site on mobile, where it was unclear if it could generate the same degree of growth from advertisements.

2012年5月的IPO之前，由于担心消费者会转而在移动端连接其网站，这家全球最大社交网络曾在路演过程中下调营收预期。当时不清楚Facebook能否在移动端创造同样程度的广告增长。

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive, and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operating officer, are among the defendants at Facebook, being sued by two classes of investors — retail and institutional. The complaint was brought by three state and local retirement plans in the US, lead by the North Carolina state treasurer and five individual investors.

Facebook首席执行官马克丠克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)和Facebook首席运营官谢里尔儠德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)均被列入Facebook一方的被告，他们被散户和机构投资者这两类投资者起诉。这一起诉由美国三个州政府和地方退休计划提起，领头的是北卡罗来纳州财政部长和五名个人投资者。

Shares in Facebook collapsed following the IPO, falling almost 50 per cent in the first three months, as investors worried that it might never generate as much advertising revenue on mobile as it had from the desktop site.

由于投资者担心Facebook或许永远都不能在移动端产生与桌面版网站同样多的广告营收，Facebook股价在IPO之后曾出现暴跌，在头三个月内跌去近50%。

However, improvements to the mobile app and marketers’ fast adoption of targeted advertising on Facebook, helped the company grow mobile revenue and it now generates more than three-quarters of its total advertising revenue from ads on mobile devices. Three and a half years on, Facebook’s stock has now soared almost 180 per cent from its first day of trading.

然而，对移动应用的改进以及市场营销人员对Facebook定向广告的迅速接纳，帮助Facebook获得了移动端营收的增长。如今，Facebook总的广告收入中超过四分之三来自移动设备上投放的广告。在IPO三年半之后，Facebook股价如今比上市首日高出近180%。