Facebook (FB) Surges to New Highs

Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) are surging to new all-time highs Thursday on heavy volume. Shares last traded up 2.4% to $82.85, with an intra-day high of $82.95.

The social media powerhouse has seen a dramatic reversal of fortunes from its 2012 IPO flop as it has made bid strides in monetizing mobile, showing its earnings leverage and making a couple of smart acquisitions.

It is unclear the driving force behind today's move, although recent positive analyst commentary around the company's new payment service, video ads and a sum-of-the-parts valuation could be contributing to the overall positive sentiment.

Today, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster downgraded online payment leader eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), citing in part Facebook's entry into the market. "We believe that Google, Apple and to a lesser extent Facebook, Samsung, Snapchat, and other app-based companies, are poised to take advantage of their own user bases in a way that will detract from PayPal’s business," Munster said.

In a report on March 17th, Nomura Securities analyst Anthony DiClemente raised estimates and his price target on Facebook to $96.00 (from $80.00) citing upside potential from video ads. According to the analyst, "We find that video ads have the potential to drive $3.8bn or 13.9% of 2017E advertising revenue, with only modest cannibalization of other ad revenue sources."

In a report on March 16, BofA/Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post said Facebook's Instagram could be worth up to $37 billion and WhatsApp could be worth up to $32 billion.

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