Shares of Facebook soared $1.50, or 7.7%,
to $20.93 as investors turned more bullish on the No. 1 social
networking company's prospects following comments by CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Tuesday.
During a TechCrunch Disrupt
conference in San Francisco, Zuckerberg remained optimistic about the
company's prospects, especially as it looks for ways to make money from
users who access the system on mobile devices. He also conceded that the
performance of the stock since the May IPO has been "disappointing."
These comments pleased investors who feared Zuckerberg wasn't paying
enough attention to shifting users to mobile nor to the stock.
Wednesday's
gain by Facebook was the stock's best day, on a closing
percentage-change basis. It was the best dollar-value gain since June
15, when shares of Facebook added $1.72 apiece.
Before Wednesday, Facebook hadn't closed above $20 a share since Aug. 20.
Shares of the stock, though, are still down 45% from the $38-a-share IPO price.
USA Today