Facebook Growth Slows

It looks like Facebook will enter its pre-IPO quiet period on a down note. The company's profit in the last quarter was $205 million, down 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011 and down 12 percent from a year earlier. However, revenue was up 45 percent from a year earlier. The weak quarter can be attributed partly to Facebook's growing expenses as it builds data centers and hires new employees. It's also had to pay out $550 million to Microsoft for patents as it gears up for a legal dispute with Yahoo, and another $1 billion for photo-sharing service Instagram.