Cramer: Facebook's stock would go up if COO Sheryl Sandberg departed

[steven36]

• Facebook's stock would rise if Sandberg resigned or was ousted, CNBC's Jim Cramer argues.
• The social network "is obviously" in disarray, says Cramer after a Wall Street Journal report that CEO Mark Zuckerberg blames Sandberg for this year's problems.

 

 

Facebook's stock would rise if Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg resigned or was ousted, CNBC's Jim Cramer contended on Monday.

 

Cramer was discussing a new report in The Wall Street Journal, which described Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg as causing "unprecedented turmoil" at the social network amid scrutiny over its Cambridge Analytica scandal and subsequent public disclosures.

 

Zuckerberg has placed blame on Sandberg for Facebook's problems, according to the Journal report, and Sandberg has wondered whether her job was in jeopardy.

 

Asked on "Squawk on the Street" whether Sandberg leaving would be good or bad for Facebook, Cramer responded by saying the "stock goes up."

 

Facebook did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Cramer's remarks.

 

Shares of Facebook closed on Friday, March 16, at about $185 per share, a day before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. About a week later, Facebook hit a then-intraday low of around $149 per share, which represented a 19 percent decline.

 

 

Under scrutiny over data privacy from Washington and Wall Street, Facebook clawed its way to an all-time high of about $218 per share in late July.

 

But since then — and including the damage from the overall stock market plunge in October — Facebook dropped 36 percent as of Friday's close of about $139 per share. The stock was under further pressure at Monday's open.

 

Cramer, whose charitable trust owns shares of Facebook, has called out Zuckerberg and Sandberg for being notably silent for days after reports on March 17 of the massive Cambridge Analytica data harvesting.

On CNBC Monday, Cramer said Facebook "is obviously" in disarray. "Does anyone say it's humming?" the "Mad Money" host asked. "They can't get a hold of the narrative. It's bad."

 

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