Facebook Boosts IPO Price

Looks like Facebook's IPO roadshow has done a pretty good job of drumming up investor interest. The company has raised its IPO price range up to $34 to $38 a share from $28 to $35 a share, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The new price range gives the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg—who turned 28 yesterday—a valuation of $104 billion. At the mid-point of $36, Facebook would raise $12.1 billion with the IPO.

The company plans to close the books on the IPO today, set the price range on Thursday, and start trading on Friday, sources tell Reuters. Small investors are jumping at the chance to get in on Silicon Valley's biggest-ever IPO, although many larger investors doubt whether its $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profits last year deserve such a high valuation, the Journal notes. "It's a cult stock," says the chief investment officer of investment-management firm Granite Investment Advisors. (More Facebook stories.)