How to buy Facebook shares

Facebook, Inc is an internet content & information business with stocks listed in the US. Facebook shares (FB) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$261.4 – a decrease of 5.34% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Facebook

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Facebook. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: FB. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Facebook reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$261.4, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Facebook, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Facebook. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Facebook's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Facebook's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was US$261.4, which is 19.59% up on its pre-crash value of US$210.18 and 90.66% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as US$137.1006.

If you had bought US$1,000 worth of Facebook shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth US$725.69 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth US$1,280.86.

Facebook share price

Use our graph to track the performance of FB stocks over time.

Facebook shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-01-12.

52-week range	US$137.1006 - US$304.67
50-day moving average	US$274.4173
200-day moving average	US$265.0358
Target price	US$322.02
PE ratio	28.6481
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$8.778

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Facebook stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Facebook, Inc by TradingView

Facebook price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $261.4 on 2020-10-19

1 week (2021-01-08)	-2.31%
1 month (2020-12-16)	-5.18%
3 months (2020-10-16)	-1.70%
6 months (2020-07-16)	8.50%

1 year (2020-01-16)	17.87%
2 years (2019-01-16)	77.17%
3 years (2018-01-16)	46.53%
5 years (2016-01-15)	175.24%

Is Facebook under- or over-valued?

Valuing Facebook stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Facebook's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Facebook's P/E ratio

Facebook's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 29x. In other words, Facebook shares trade at around 29x recent earnings.

That's comparable to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29).

Facebook's PEG ratio

Facebook's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.899. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Facebook's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Facebook's EBITDA

Facebook's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$30.2 billion (£22.3 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Facebook's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Facebook financials

Revenue TTM	US$79 billion
Operating margin TTM	30.08%
Gross profit TTM	US$57.9 billion
Return on assets TTM	10.96%
Return on equity TTM	23.88%
Profit margin	32.01%
Book value	41.309
Market capitalisation	US$716.3 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Facebook shares

There are currently 23.2 million Facebook shares held short by investors – that's known as Facebook's "short interest". This figure is 1.2% down from 23.5 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Facebook shares can be evaluated.

Facebook's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Facebook's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Facebook shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Facebook shares traded daily (recently around 15.8 million). Facebook's SIR currently stands at 1.47. In other words for every 100,000 Facebook shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1470 shares are currently held short.

However Facebook's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Facebook shares, or, against the total number of tradable Facebook shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Facebook's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Facebook shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0097% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Facebook shares, roughly 10 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Facebook.

Find out more about how you can short Facebook stock.

Facebook's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Facebook.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Facebook's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 29.4

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Facebook's overall score of 29.4 (as at 01/01/2019) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 59th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Facebook is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Facebook's environmental score

Environmental score: 0.07/100

Facebook's social score

Social score: 13.68/100

Facebook's governance score

Governance score: 8.28/100

Facebook's controversy score

Controversy score: 4/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Facebook scored a 4 out of 5 for controversy – the second-lowest score possible, reflecting that Facebook has a damaged public profile.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Facebook, Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	29.4
Total ESG percentile	59.14
Environmental score	0.07
Social score	13.68
Governance score	8.28
Level of controversy	4

Facebook share dividends

We're not expecting Facebook to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Facebook share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Facebook's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$137.1006 up to US$304.67. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Facebook's is 1.1828. This would suggest that Facebook's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Facebook overview

Facebook, Inc. develops products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and in-home devices worldwide. The company's products include Facebook that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate in a private way. It also provides Oculus, a hardware, software, and developer ecosystem, which allows people to come together and connect with each other through its Oculus virtual reality products. Facebook, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Facebook is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.632% of Facebook shares are held by insiders and 79.766% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Facebook?

  Facebook's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Facebook based?

  Facebook's address is: 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, United States, 94025

• What is Facebook's ISIN number?

  Facebook's international securities identification number is: US30303M1027

• What is Facebook's CUSIP number?

  Facebook's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 30303M102