Facebook shares hit 6-month high; top designer Aaron Sittig quits
Facebook Inc. shares crossed the $30 mark Wednesday, their highest point in six months.
The stock rose $1.53, or 5.3%, to $30.59 a day after the giant social network sent out invitations to the media for an event next week at its Menlo Park, Calif., campus.
The invitation said: “Come and see what we’re building.”
Facebook, which will report its fourth-quarter earnings this month, might soon roll out changes to users’ Timelines.
The Timeline changes people in New Zealand are seeing “is a test we are currently running,” Facebook said.
Facebook stock has struggled since the company’s initial public offering in May. Facebook went public at $38 a share, but its shares quickly fell on concerns about its prospects in mobile advertising, hitting a low of $17.55 in September.
Although it continues to face challenges, Facebook has made strides in building its mobile business and pushed into e-commerce, buoying investor sentiment.
In another development Wednesday, Aaron Sittig, a key designer and close friend of Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, has left the company for the second time. He briefly left the company in 2010 but returned in February 2011. One of Facebook’s earliest employees, he was immersed in Facebook’s mobile efforts for the last year.
A person close to Sittig said he had planned to leave Facebook for some time for personal reasons.
“Aaron was a valuable member of Facebook’s team and we wish him the best of luck,” Facebook said in a statement.
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