Winning The Future: Facebook Inc (FB), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and More

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)

Over a billion served. Every single month. While Facebook doesn’t entirely dominate the social era (services such as Twitter and LinkedIn are strong players, too), it’s certainly the only one you can find your grandmother on. In fact, Facebook use is so pervasive that more than three times the US population uses the service every month.

However, unlike the other companies on this list, Facebook has had a rocky romance with Wall Street since the beginning. Launching at a price of $38/share, Facebook immediately tumbled. It reached its bottom a few months later after losing roughly 50% of its value and has been gaining steadily from there.

Some analysts have stated that a unique fact about Facebook is that it waited to go public until after it had already achieved incredible success. In theory, this decreases the overall growth potential for Facebook as continued exponential growth at these rates is perceived as unlikely.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple is probably the greatest turnaround story in business history. The original iPod was released in October of 2001. The second-generation iPod, which added Windows support, was introduced summer of 2002, followed by the third-generation iPod in April 2003. The iPod mini – the first spin-off of the original iPod – debuted in January 2004. The stock was trading at under $12/share.

The stock gained steadily until 2007 – the year Apple launched the first iPhone. March of 2009 was the last time you Apple shares for under $100. By 2010, Apple was dominating the consumer electronics market with its iPod Touch, iPhone, MacBook, and iPad products. What followed was quarter-after-quarter of record breaking earnings and Apple eventually taking the title of the most valuable company ever from ExxonMobil.

However, over the past six-months we have watched Apple dive from its heights of $700+/share down to a low of $435/share after missing analysts’ earnings expectations amid fears that growth may be slowing, margins may be shrinking, and competition may be heating up.

In Summary

While it’s fun to look back at everything that has happened over the years, it’s always impossible to predict the future. The only thing that’s certain is that these companies have surely defined their era. And, going forward, each of them have unique risks and opportunities. The real question that should linger for all of you readers is: which one of these companies (if any!) will be the one to spot the next big thing?

As always, this is by no means an endorsement of any stock or advice to buy or sell any stock. My goal is simply to educate, amuse, and enrich. Good luck to all of you! And thanks for reading.

The article Winning The Future originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Nathan Bradham.

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