Shares of Facebook (NasdaqGM: FB), the largest social media company, are down 2.1% in midday trading, perhaps something of a pleasant surprise given the controversy and criticism surrounding the company’s $19 billion acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp.
Facebook, which has not even been a public company for two years, has just made a larger acquisition than Apple (NasdaqGM: AAPL), Google (NasdaqGM: GOOG) and Microsoft (NasdaqGM: MSFT) ever have. Google’s biggest deal was its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, while Microsoft’s largest was Skype at $8.5 billion. Apple, meanwhile, has never done a deal above $1 billion, according to the Associated Press.
Although Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp has fueled talk of another Internet bubble, exchange traded funds that are heavily allocated to Mark Zuckerberg’s company are holding up well all things considered. The Global X Social Media Index ETF (NasdaqGS: SOCL) is off 1.5% today. That ETF features Facebook as its largest holding at 12.14%, slightly higher than the 12.12% allocated to China’s Tencent Holdings.
SOCL traded higher Tuesday after King Digital Entertainment, the creator of widely known games like Candy Crush Saga, Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga, announced plans for an initial public offering. [Social Media ETF up on Candy Crush IPO News]
Today, SOCL’s real problem is not Facebook paying $19 billion for a company Google offered $10 billion for. Rather, the ETF is being hit by a 9% post-earnings report plunge in shares of Yandex (NasdaqGM: YNDX), the Google of Russia.