Facebook stock hits new high

Scott Martin, USA TODAY4:51 p.m. EDT October 17, 2013


(Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Investors are giving Facebook shares a "like" of late.

Facebook shares rose $1.08, or 2.1%, to close Thursday at $52.21, a new all-time high.

The stock movement comes after Evercore Partners on Tuesday noted it expects a price target of $60 on Facebook. Wednesday, the social-networking giant's stock rose 3.3%.

THURSDAY STOCKS: S&P 500 closes at record high

Evercore's Ken Sena and Andrew McNellis estimate that Facebook's Instagram app could haul in $340 million in advertising revenue by 2014.

Instagram in June added 15-second videos to its popular social photo app, fueling speculation that it makes a good short-form ad platform for brands.

Instagram this month said it plans to launch sponsored images and videos in the coming months. Instagram was widely expected to make the move to launch advertisements.

Advertisers are expected to spend about 8.1%, or $9.5 billion, of digital ad budgets on social network advertising worldwide, according to eMarketer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...-high/3001581/