Facebook’s market capitalization is approaching $200 billion, almost double what the social media company was worth when it debuted on the public market a little over two years ago.
In fact, as The Wall Street Journal notes, the tech company’s market cap is now roughly equivalent to those of American Express and United Parcel Service combined.
Facebook’s stock price is soaring Thursday, one day after it (FB) reported its second-quarter profit more than doubled as the company continued to reap the rewards of a fast growing mobile ad business. Facebook’s revenue grew 61% to $2.9 billion, topping Wall Street’s expectations.
As a result, the company’s share price reached a new all-time high on Thursday. Facebook’s market cap at the company’s intraday high was $197 billion, according to the Journal, which cited S&P Dow Jones Indices data. The company is now the 14th most valuable in the S&P 500, measured by market cap.
Facebook’s stock price has more than doubled from when the company priced its shares at $38 in 2012, which valued Facebook at around $104 billion and made it the biggest-ever valuation by an American company at the time of its offering, according to the Journal.
What’s fueling Facebook’s impressive run? Well, the company is making great strides in generating more revenue from mobile ads, following consumers as they increasingly turn to their mobile devices to use the site. Meanwhile, the company increased its share of the $18 billion U.S. Mobile ad industry to 17.5% last year from just 5.4% in 2012, according to researcher eMarketer.
Facebook this year also announced two splashy deals, although it remains to be seen how successful the company will be in integrating those businesses. Facebook in February agreed to pay $19 billion in cash and stock to buy smartphone-messaging app WhatsApp. Nearly a month later, the company signed a deal to pay nearly $2 billion for virtual reality goggle maker Oculus VR.
