Facebook slips in Q1

FUMBLE IN THE RED ZONE: Facebook’s final earnings report prior to the expected IPO next month was (gasp) disappointing. The company's fiscal Q1 revenue was $1.06 billion, down 6% from the quarter ending Dec. 31. In a regulatory filing, Facebook pinned the decline on "seasonal trends" in the advertising business and user growth in markets where the social network generates less revenue per user. "We are seeing slowing growth, which is never a positive thing," Lou Kerner, founder of the Social Internet Fund, told the Wall Street Journal. The somewhat surprising news was greeted by the media in characteristic ways. The Journal led it s coverage with the line, “As Facebook Inc. enters the final weeks before its landmark initial public offering, not all of the arrows are pointing up,” while the N.Y. Post went with, “Why the muck, Zuck?” (4/24a)