Facebook did not have cash flow for quite some time and it isn't like they didn't create some value during that period. Your "ultimate measure" is questionable

Facebook did not have cash flow for quite some time and it isn't like they didn't create some value during that period. Your "ultimate measure" is questionable. It doesn't say whether a company is heading up or down in the sense of mindshare. You can have all the profits in the world and be heading down the drain (yahoo did this). And mindshare is the only thing the supergiants (google, apple, amazon, facebook) really fight for.