For the first time since the IPO, Facebook stock approached $38 a share today.
It didn’t actually hit that significant number (that’s what the stock started out at back in May) – but it came close. Really close. Its high for the day was $37.96 – an increase of nearly 7% from its opening.
For Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of Facebook family, this must feel pretty good. After debuting strong in May 2012 – hitting $45 shortly after the IPO, Facebook’s stock began to fall, and fall hard. At its low point in August of 2012, the stock price dipped below $18 – less than half of the original price. The most cited reason for Facebook’s problems was a distrust from investors – mainly Facebook’s inability to monetize mobile. Sure, users continued to grow – but for the Street, it was all about those advertising successes (and lack thereof).
This recent uptick in Facebook’s stock began last week, when the company posted strong Q2 earnings with a revenue of $1.81 billion. Revenue from advertising shot up from 61% in Q2 2012 to 88%. More importantly, mobile ad revenue accounted for 41% of Facebook’s ad total ad revenue for the quarter – up 11% year-over year.
That seemed to be the impetus, and Facebook’s stock began to climb.
Here’s what Facebook’s stock has looked like over the past month or so. I guess you can call it a comeback.
Also, Facebook announced today that they are starting a new mobile game publishing program – one that will generate even more revenue. And according to reports, those long-rumored video ads are soon coming to your news feed at $2.5 million a pop.
