Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares closed over $40 on the stock market for the first time since the controversial listing of the company in May last year, finishing the week at a record $40.55.
Facebook’s stock exchange rose 5.2% on Friday after JPMorgan analysts sent a positive outlook to investors on the company’s business, saying that the social networking is gaining ground both in terms of PC users and those who access it on mobile devices.
Highest price for Facebook shares was recorded a few seconds after the closing of the session on the first day of trading, as the massive demand from investors pushed briefly the stock to $45.
Facebook grew by 50% last month after a modest debut on the stock exchange in 2012, affected by errors and technical problems at listing and investor distrust in the ability of the network to monetize the growing number of users on smartphones and tablets.
In July, Facebook announced a second-quarter revenue of $1.8 billion, up 53% compared to the corresponding period last year. Net income rose to $333 million, compared with a loss of $157 million in April-June 2012.
Investors and analysts were surprised by the results, which confirms the company’s strategy to invest heavily in software and mobile services and generate money from advertising on smartphones and tablets.
“Engagement remains a concern for some, but we continue to believe that Facebook’s strong mobile usage is offsetting desktop declines and that competing services are having only a modest impact on Facebook,” said Doug Anmuth, an analyst with JP Morgan on Thursday.
Facebook has reached 1.15 billion active users in the middle of this year, while the number of users that access the social networking on mobile devices exceeded for the first time the number of users that access it on desktop PCs.
The number of online minutes spent on Facebook by desktop users declined in July 2013 to 351 from 439 in July 2012, according to comScore figures. On the other hand, the time spent on Facebook by users on mobile devices was nearly double from last year, reaching last month 914 minutes per unique user.
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