Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) botched IPO seems to be a thing of the past. Since early November, the company’s shares are up a sizzling 63%.
Investors are excited about renewed growth, especially as Facebook focuses on monetizing its massive mobile traffic. And, as I’m sure you know, after the market closes today, we’ll get more details on the company’s efforts. Facebook is scheduled to report its Q4 results.
Much of the attention will again be on the trends in mobile advertising, though … and it’s a good bet investors will not be disappointed. Keep in mind that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) posted hefty growth rates for their mobile businesses for Q4. Plus, Facebook launched a massive mobile ad campaign with Walmart (NYSE:WMT) during the holiday season, which involved around 50 million ads.
In the third quarter, Facebook was already seeing traction with its mobile business. Monthly active mobile users spiked by 60% to 604 million and revenues hit around $150 million.
Mobile is not everything, still. Investors will also want to get an update on Facebook’s Gifts e-commerce program (this came from the acquisition of Karma). It is still in the experimental phase but could be a big revenue driver.
Facebook has also recently launched several other features that could bolster its e-commerce ambitions. One is Collections, which is similar to Pinterest. It allows users to promote certain products on their pages.
Then, there is the recently unveiled Graph Search, which allows users to ask questions based on recommendations from their friends. In other words, it can help with finding restaurants, a date or a funny photo.
Perhaps the only negative for Facebook is its Payments business. For the most part, it is tied to social gaming. Unfortunately, as seen with companies like Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA), the business has been slowing down lately.
Hopefully, mobile growth should more than make up for the shortfall. Keep an eye out for the report after the bell today.