I’m about to say something no one will believe, but the charts back it up. Wait for it. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the stock everyone has hated since its initial public offering last year, is now outperforming Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the previous poster child for growth. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares hit a new 52-week high today.
Facebook and Apple both recover, but…
Investors rewarded both Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) for their June quarter earnings reports. After all, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s numbers weren’t as bad as they were expected to be (what a reason to reward a company, right?). But no one saw Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) coming, so the movement there was much greater. Analysts are even starting to come around, giving the social network price targets that are higher than its IPO.
Shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shot up 30% on Wednesday after the company’s quarterly report, largely thanks to major improvements in mobile advertising revenue. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) made gains after its report too, but those gains were much smaller percentage-wise. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock rose about $20 per share, while Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s stock rose by roughly $8 a share.
Apple and Facebook a year ago
Now let’s zoom out and take a look at a bigger picture of the two stocks.
Using May 2012 as a baseline (which was when Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) had its IPO, we see the early trend. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) climbs, while Facebook drops. By the end of August 2012, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was off by almost 53 percent from its IPO, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 25%. Of course Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) went on to hit its peak of $705 per share the following month.
But then an interesting thing happens in January of this year. The two of them touch. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were both off by about 17%. Meanwhile Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to decline, although Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) still continued to do worse than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Until, of course, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s quarterly earnings report this week.
When the markets opened this morning, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was up by more than 30% while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) languished in a mere 2% increase.
Facebook and the Dow
So will this trend continue? There’s no telling, but it’s interesting to note that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was heading toward outperforming the Dow today, although as of this writing, its performance is slightly below that of the Dow.
The social network did outperform the Dow in January of this year though, and it has stayed pretty close to the index for much of the year so far. Meanwhile Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains far below both of them this year so far.
It will be interesting to see what the rest of the year has in store for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
