The Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) IPO earlier this year was one of the most-hyped Internet IPOs since Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). While the power of social networking and Facebook's 1 billion users generated significant hype initially, the stock has lagged in the months since its IPO.
As Motley Fool analyst Andrew Tonner explains in this video, Facebook's stock has begun to recover as investors have bought into the company's adjustments to its business model. The recent focus on generating earnings through more robust display advertising is just the beginning; Andrew expects that further emphasis on mobile and the adoption of sponsored stories will continue to drive growth as Facebook begins to leverage the tremendous amount of information the company collects about its user base.
Social networking is a powerful disruptive force in the world today, but it isn't an automatic recipe for success. While disruptive, it remains unclear whether other disruptive companies, such as Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), will be able to generate sustainable, profitable growth over the long term. Andrew expects Facebook to participate in this ecosystem successfully in a manner similar to LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD).
