Facebook above IPO price for 1st time since IPO

NEW YORK CITY, USA (UPDATED) – Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday, July 31, breached its 2012 IPO price of $38 a share for the first time since the company’s May 2012 initial public offering.

Facebook got as high as $38.31 Wednesday shortly after the market opened, before retreating. Shares recently traded at $37.72, up 10 cents or 0.3%.

The company’s IPO was priced at $38 a share. Facebook has only closed above $38 one time: its first day on the markets.

Facebook has been on an upward tear since releasing earnings a week ago that showed a big jump in mobile advertising revenue. Shares have rallied more than 40% since the earnings release.

Facebook shares plummeted after the highly anticipated IPO last year and languished, primarily due to doubts about the California-based company’s ability to make money from members using mobile devices to get online.

But the most recent earnings report showed that some 41% of its ad revenues came from mobile, compared with 30% in the prior quarter and virtually nothing a year ago. – Rappler.com