by Michael Tarsala
We just ran the numbers: Out of our 115 Covestor managers, only one has bought Facebook (FB) shares on the opening day, as of about 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
Doug Estadt, manager of the Management Access model, was able to accumulate shares that make up about 4% of his portfolio, all between $40 and $41.
But he’s the only one: There are no other outstanding orders for shares at the time of this posting.
One of the points I made in recent days is that there is no reason investors have to buy Facebook immediately, even if you happen to think it’s a good long-term investment.
As with any IPO, the short track record means it offers very little in terms of a research edge. Keep in mind, it’s something you may eventually own a decent amount of in your large-cap fund, ETF or growth fund anyway.
Is Facebook worth the price Estadt paid?
A $100 billion-plus valuation may be more than justified, if the company can build a better way to monetize its mountains of user data in time.
Yet at this point, it’s trading at more than Goldman Sachs (GS) and Nike (NKE) combined — perhaps a factor that’s holding back other model managers from taking the early plunge.
I found the lack of interest surprising.
Facebook may be more of a “prove it” story than anyone anticipated.
