Facebook Announcement Pushes FB Stock Above $30, and It May Go Higher

Culture

Facebook Inc. (FB) stocks opened at $32 Monday morning for the first time since July following anticipation caused by a cryptic announcement early last week.

The message, asking technology reporters and journalists to “come and see what we’re building,” highlights the date and time for what is set to be Facebook’s first press event since their initial public offering in May. At that time, Facebook was the first U.S. company to ever be offered at the stock market after its value exceeded $100 billion.

While the greatest speculation seems to revolve around a Facebook smartphone, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously opposed such hardware quite vehemently. Analyst Brian Pitz also seems skeptical of the idea and argues, “If I were to bet, I'd think it was something that was ad-platform related. I'm not convinced on the phone.”

Interestingly, analyst Richard Greenfield argues, “[The] stock is up because they have driven a dramatic increase in the ad load of their mobile app which is giving investors hope that they exceeded expectations." So, while that analysis still focuses on the ads, it does imply that mobile Facebook could a central role for the company going forward.

This year alone, for example, Facebook’s mobile share is expected to grow to 12.2%, up from 8.8% last year and 0% the year before that. Of course, while this does make them second in the market, understand that Google is first with 56%.

And also, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s opposition, let us remember that Steve Jobs initially opposed the idea of a seven-inch tablet.

Aside from the smartphone, there have also been questions regarding what Facebook plans to do with their biggest gaming partner, the struggling Zynga, or Instagram, the billion-dollar purchase they are still unable to utilize effectively.

Either way, whatever the announcement may be, Facebook has caused so much speculation that this needs to be something substantive, because the media and Wall Street are not kind to those that waste their time.