thomas93
Book value on the balance sheet is ~$474 million, but that doesn't seem particularly meaningful in a valuation context for the business (especially considering the ~$1,123 million they are carrying for treasury stock).
As for inventory, they have that carried on their books for ~$1,000 million, which also means very little without a broader context on the state of the business.
People spend an incredible amount of time accumulating capital, but many spend hardly any time learning to properly manage it, relying instead on financial advisers selling commission driven products.
I think that it is often the mentality of trying to "beat the markets" that lead people to make poor financial decisions, when in fact the majority of the population would benefit from taking the time to obtain a fundamental understanding of their own personal finances.
Companies are (at least theoretically) valued based on their future potential. Just because "real value" of user profiles may not currently be getting realized, does not mean that it isn't already incorporated into the value of the stock.
After being banned from managing outside capital, SAC Capital Advisors transitioned to being a family office called Point72. Only recently has it begun to to manage outside capital again.