Social media investments have improved over the past couple of years, since the Facebook IPO fiasco...
Facebook's (Nasdaq: FB) initial public offering (IPO) failed to garner any real momentum for the first several months, and even dipped below $20 per share in late 2012.
At that time, many market watchers declared the social media bubble had burst, and future social media IPOs were doomed to go bust.
However, FB stock has since surged. It's up more than 60% since its IPO, and more than 15% this year alone. Investors have nabbed a 140% return over the last nine months.
And now it's among the best social media investments to make today.
Take a look...
Best Social Media Investments: Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB)
Facebook stock has risen 149.08% since July 1, 2013 - a notable turnaround after its 35% drop below its initial offering price in late May 2012. Now, FB stock sits 62.1% above that initial offering price, at $61.90 per share on May 1.
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Although Facebook's user growth rate has slowed, the company's active user base is the best out of all companies in the sector, in excess of 1 billion. That number alone is enough to attract advertisers. Facebook revealed this year its active user base is still growing at a rate of 16%.
The company's successful implementation of full-on mobile play is one of the reasons for its astounding success.
"Facebook has done a great job in going mobile," Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson said. "At the end of last year's fourth quarter, active mobile users climbed 39% to 945 million, or 77% of its user base. And this latest quarter marks yet another huge mobile user base gain."
In its Q1 2014 earnings release last Wednesday, Facebook saw its mobile monthly active users increase by a whopping 34% to 1.01 billion year-over-year.
Another reason the company is one of the best social media investments is its recent string of acquisitions, including that of mobile messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion in February.
Facebook's decision to pay that amount of money for a five-year-old startup with annual revenue of just $20 million was written off as irrational by some market watchers. However, WhatsApp has the potential to net Facebook billions in a brief amount of time. With just $1 in fees per month per user, and with advertisements, FB has projected it can generate revenue of $7.8 billion every year. That marks a 55% yearly revenue increase.
The second social media company is Robinson's favorite pick. With more than 277 million members across the globe, Forbes predicts this company's average monthly unique visitors will go beyond the 500 million mark by the year 2020.
Its stock has returned more than 60% to investors since its public debut, and right now, this is one of the best social media investments that can be purchased at a steep discount...