Facebook Inc (FB) Monetization Review: Goldman Sachs

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s new monetization opportunities are making the company look a little more promising to investors. Analysts at Goldman Sachs issued their full report on the company’s efforts today.

Facebook Inc (FB) Monetization Review: Goldman Sachs

One of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s most recent additions to its monetization efforts is Gifts, an e-commerce feature which allows users to buy gift cards and other items and send them to their friends. Gifts is still in the early stages, but one of the features Goldman Sachs likes is the fact that it reminds users of their friends’ birthdays and anniversaries, as well as other gift-giving occasions.

The analysts projected that for the quarter ending in December, if about 3 percent of the company’s 120 million active users each purchase three gifts, then that could add up to $20 – $45 million in revenue. In 2013 if about 5 percent of the company’s users in the U.S. buy about five gifts, then Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) could see $75 – $110 million in revenue. The analysts based these numbers on the assumption that most of the purchases would be around the holiday season and would therefore be during the fourth quarter of 2013.

Goldman Sacs points out that the additional revenue from Facebook’s Gifts service would more than make up for the $30 million decline in revenue from the social networking site’s partnership with Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), which has now ended.

Some of the main risks they see with shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are user fatigue, missteps with privacy issues, and backlash from users over the company’s new formats for ads.

Today in pre-market trading shares of Facebook increased .61 percent to $27.77 per share.

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