Facebook Inc (FB) said over the weekend that its digital currency project Libra could use cryptocurrencies based on national currencies instead of using the initially proposed synthetic currency.
Facebook shares closed higher for the seventh time in the past eleven trading sessions on NASDAQ on Monday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since October 15th. The stock went up 2.10% ($3.91) to $189.76, after touching an intraday high at $189.87 and an intraday low at $186.79.
Shares of Facebook Inc have risen 44.76% so far in 2019 compared with a 19.94% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).
In 2018, Facebook Inc’s stock went down 25.71%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.
During a banking seminar, David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s Libra project, said that the establishment of a more efficient payments system still remained the initiative’s main objective. However, the company was also open to exploring alternative approaches for the currency token that would be used.
“We could do it differently. Instead of having a synthetic unit … we could have a series of stablecoins, a dollar stablecoin, a euro stablecoin, a sterling pound stable coin, etc,” David Marcus said during the seminar, cited by Reuters.
“We could definitely approach this with having a multitude of stablecoins that represent national currencies in a tokenized digital form. That is one of the options that should be considered,” he added.
According to Reuters, Facebook Inc still expects to launch Libra in June 2020. However, that target could still be missed because of regulatory hurdles.
Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation
According to CNN Money, the 44 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Facebook Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $238.00, with a high estimate of $347.00 and a low estimate of $120.00. The median estimate represents a 25.42% upside compared to the closing price of $189.76 on October 21st.
The same media also reported that at least 38 out of 48 surveyed investment analysts had rated Facebook Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 5 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.
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