business

Facebook reported its earnings for the first time today, giving investors their first peek at the company's finances since its botched public offering in May. In the buildup to the earnings release, the social network did everything right - steered analysts to a relatively modest consensus view (12 cents a share and $1.15 billion in revenue), reported numbers that were equal to or slightly better than those estimates (12 cents a share, $1.18 billion), and enjoyed a few minutes of market euphoria. But Wall Street changed its mind. After an initial boost, Facebook's share price fell to around $24 in after-market trading, its all-time low. What happened? Well, it seems that once ...