A federal judge certified the legal proceedings, Reuters reports,
saying investors who claim they lost money could pursue their claims as
groups.
Facebook told the BBC that it was disappointed with the decision and it has launched an appeal against it.
The firm's initial public offering (IPO) in May 2012 raised $16bn (£10bn).
The investors say that by purchasing the firm's shares at inflated prices they lost money.
That
year, its shares began trading on 18 May in New York at $38 per share,
but the price fell to almost half the amount of $17.55 on 4 September.
The
price stayed below the IPO price for more than a year, but shares
ultimately rebounded and closed up at $107.26 on the Nasdaq index on
Tuesday.
District judge Robert Sweet gave the lawsuits class
action certification on 11 December, but the order was made public on
Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Concerns over revenue
Investors
claim that Facebook omitted information about revised revenue
projections and the impact that increased mobile usage, at a time when
there was little advertising on mobile devices, would have on its
revenues.
But Mr Sweet said Facebook provided "an impressive
amount of evidence" to indicate that shareholders knew how mobile usage
would affect the firm's revenue.
However, he rejected the tech giant's argument that shareholders should pursue their claims individually.
In
a 55-page decision, Mr. Sweet said that given the extraordinary size of
the case, allowing two subclasses "in fact adds more weight to the
predominance of common questions and answers, practically negating the
individualized questions raised".
Facebook told the BBC that it believes the class certification is "without merit".
The
tech giant also said the decision "conflicts with well-settled Supreme
Court and Second Circuit law", and it has already filed an appeal seen
by the BBC.
"The suggestion that class members' knowledge might be inferred on a class-wide basis flouts due process," the appeal said.
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