Facebook's 6.3 per cent drop yesterday, after the end of restrictions on share sales by its biggest investors, was the second-largest post-lock-up decline among companies that have gone public since January 2011.
Only social-game maker Zynga tumbled more, losing 7.9 per cent, on the first day that insiders could start selling their stakes.
That was the largest one-day post-lock-up descent among the 20 biggest initial public offerings since January 1, 2011.
The slump yesterday left California-based Facebook at a record low after a 60 per cent increase in the number of shares available for trading.
Under restrictions worked out with IPO underwriters, early investors agree not to sell their holdings for a preset period after a market debut to keep from flooding the market with shares.
Facebook's decline reflects concern that more sales will follow in the coming months as additional lock-ups expire and as the company struggles to wring sales from a growing customer base, said Rory Maher, an analyst at Capstone Investments. "Anytime you have a lot of shares come out on the market like that, it's going to put some pressure on the stock," Mr Maher said.
"They're still figuring out the best way to optimize their core business. And they haven't quite done that yet."
Facebook, the world's largest social-networking service, shed $1.33 to $19.87 at the close yesterday in New York.
The shares freed up yesterday represent 14 per cent of the 1.91 billion that will become available for sale in the coming nine months.
The next expiry comes between October 15 and November 13, when restraints are removed on about 243 million shares.
Lock-up expires on about 1.2 billion shares on November 14, and for 149.4 million shares a month later.
A final round comes May 18, 2013, with 47.3 million shares becoming available. Early Facebook investors such as DST Global, Goldman Sachs Group, Elevation Partners and Accel Partners could start selling part of their holdings yesterday, Facebook said in filings.
The restriction was lifted for early investors, excluding Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg, who sold part of their holdings in the IPO.
Bloomberg
