Zynga’s Odd Rise in Share Price

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By Trey Thoelcke Updated Published

courtesy of Zynga
The stock prices of both Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and the game company Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), which has relied on Facebook traffic, have risen in lock-step over the past five days. Each is up 8%, compared to a 2% rise in the S&P 500.

The link seems odd, since Zynga’s games have gone out of favor, even with the huge distribution platform Facebook offers them. New Zynga games are nowhere near as successful as its big hit, Farmville. Zynga also has run through senior management people. And Facebook has received several analysts upgrades that Zynga has not. Investors believe that the market for social-network games has become crowded, and that this is even more true on mobile devices than personal computers.

But Zynga’s shares are off from a 52-week high of almost $16 to $2.40. Investors who enjoy risk might believe that, at its current extremely low valuation, it can drop no further.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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