Facebook Stock Price (Nasdaq: FB) Keeps Paying, Despite Bad Press from BABA

facebook stock price
Facebook CEO
Mark Zuckerberg

Everyone's been down on the Facebook stock price (Nasdaq: FB) this week.

You see, the $16 billion the Facebook IPO raised in 2012 made it the largest tech IPO of all time. Its size has drawn comparisons to the Alibaba IPO, which is even bigger. The Chinese e-commerce company priced its initial stock offering at $68 a share, giving it a valuation of roughly $21.8 billion. BABA stock started trading today on the New York Stock Exchange at $92.70 a share.

But after Facebook's IPO, FB stock proceeded to drop more than 50% in its first three months - a fate that Alibaba investors would like to avoid. That's why media has been drawing distinctions between the two, speaking of BABA's graces and Facebook's failings.

Regardless of the negativity, don't forget that the Facebook stock price has absolutely delivered for investors - and it's got a lot more in store...

FB Stock's Amazing Run

Facebook stock experienced a volatile ride after its infamously disastrous May 2012 IPO. Through mid-2013, shares slumped 35% under its initial offering price.

But since July 2013, FB stock has soared nearly 210% - and it's not showing any signs of slowing.

"One thing about [Facebook founder and CEO] Mark Zuckerberg is, he finds out what's wrong with his company, and he fixes it. He doesn't let his ego get in the way of success," Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson said earlier this year. "At this rate, earnings - and FB stock itself - could double in less than 2.5 years."

In its most recent earnings reported on July 23, the world's largest social networking giant beat Wall Street expectations with earnings per share (EPS) that doubled what it posted in the same quarter a year ago. And it notched a 19% year-over-year increase in daily user count - a good sign that the company's still growing.

The company's success breaking into the mobile revolution bodes well for the future of Facebook's stock price...

According to one report, sales by the world's 500 leading mobile commerce retailers will reach $84 billion in 2014 - an 80% increase from 2013. Facebook is effectively bridging that transition. The company's mobile user count crossed the one-billion mark this year, and advertising revenue there represented 62% of its total ad revenue in the most recent quarter.

"Facebook has done a great job in going mobile," Robinson said after Q2 earnings were released. "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."

Acquisitions are further fueling the continued success of the Facebook stock price.

In February, Facebook announced it would buy messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion. Its decision to spend that amount of money on a five-year-old startup with only 55 employees and a 2013 revenue of around $20 million appeared absurd to some industry followers. But Robinson anticipates Zuckerberg - and FB investors - will have the last laugh.

"The WhatsApp acquisition could bring billions in new sales to Facebook in a short amount of time," Robinson said. "If it just captured $1 a month per user in fees, ads, and other services, Facebook would post around $5.4 billion in new sales on top of 2013 revenue of $7.8 billion, itself a 55% yearly increase."

Early March brought a $60 million acquisition of drone (atmospheric satellite) maker Titan Aerospace, a move aimed to bring Internet connectivity to new parts of the world.

And later the same month, Facebook acquired virtual reality goggle maker Oculus VR Inc. in a $2 billion deal. FB management said the move was aimed to develop a "next-gen" platform for social media users.

Finally, there's a side to Facebook worth mentioning because it could be so profitable in years to come: Big Data analytics.

"Facebook is sitting on a hidden goldmine if it can figure out a way to monetize the user data of its over one billion user base," Robinson said.

Despite bad press from BABA, FB stock is up 2.26% over the last month, and 40.88% year to date. It traded flat at $76.99 a share (-0.01%) around noon EDT Friday.

Join us on Twitter @moneymorning and on our Facebook page and tell us where you think the Facebook stock price is headed.

History's being made today with the initial stock offering of BABA - it could shape up to be the heftiest debut on Earth. Not only that, the deal could bestow life-changing profits on investors shrewd enough to position themselves for something we refer to as the "Alibaba Shockwave Effect"...

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