FX.co ★ Instagram costs nearly $35 billion

Shares of a popular worldwide Instagram service have significantly increased in price. According to the data from Citigroup analyst Mark May, the market value of the company is $35 billion. One of the largest social networks in terms of active users is owned by Facebook Inc. At that time, the transaction value amounted to $19 billion. The success is primarily explained by a significant increase in the number of Instagram users. The company managed to exceed the most positive analysts' forecasts. New accounts are being created, the company becomes more expensive. In addition, advertising revenues have also risen. Considering these facts, one can resume that $35 billion is not the limit. “The Service is actually making the first steps to monetize their audiences and information assets, and its contribution to Facebook’s profit is minimal, but we can say that this process is gaining momentum,” the analyst said. Mark May recommends buying shares of Facebook, upgrading the forecast of their value from $86 to $91 per share. As a whole, the outgoing year can be called successful for Instagram. Capitalization of the company increased by 46 percent, while the index Standard & Poor's 500 grew by 12 percent. Due to the results achieved, photo service Instargam has significantly improved its positions in the list of the largest companies in the world. For example, the market value of American Airlines is $36.4 billion and Kraft Foods, the second largest producer of packaged food, is worth $37.4 billion. Earlier, the head of Instagram Kevin Systrom, commenting on the results of the year, noted that “the number of service users reached 300 million, more than the microblogging service Twitter has”, while Instargam users are an average of 1.8% more active.