Shares of Facebook went soaring after the company's earnings were announced. Earnings were higher than expected for the company.
Facebook shares hit a record high Thursday thanks to a surge in mobile advertising. Analysts said Facebook accounts for $1 of every $5 ad dollars spent on mobile devices.
The world's largest social network is on the upswing as shares jumped to more than $76 per share by midday July 24, as one report details. That reflects an increase of 7 percent for the day.
Facebook's market value is just shy of $200 billion. To put that into some perspective, the young social media company is now positioned to surpass IBM as the fourth-largest U.S.-listed technology firm. Apple, Google and Microsoft make the top three.
If Facebook's share price targets hit $100, the company would be valued at more than $250 billion. In just the second quarter alone, Facebook's mobile advertising took off with more than 150 percent growth.
According to one report, Facebook's margins on earnings were were 67.7 percent. That is calculated before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of course. Facebook said the mobile ads are working well on every front, not just the mobile app installs.
Facebook is taking a lot of business from Google's paid search, according to these reports.
In the second quarter, Facebook earned 42 cents per share on $2.91 billion in revenue. Its $2.68 billion in revenue from advertising was a 67 percent increase from a year ago. Mobile ad revenue jumped 41 percent from last year as well. That accounted for 62 percent of total ad sales, at $1.66 billion, sources reported. The company also netted another $234 million on payments and other fees, which was a 9 percent increase over the year before.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts there is still room for Facebook to grow. Many of the ads that performed well were the ones that show up in users' feeds. The company is still reportedly behind Google, but quickly catching up.
Facebook will attempt to gain more ground in and revenue from mobile and video advertising sales through third-party ad networks, reports indicate. Facebook will also be working on a number of other tools and apps to help the company drive more sales and revenue for investors. Facebook has billions of users worldwide and is one of the most-visited websites online.
