The social titan

One look at Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) stock chart, and you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ve missed the boat. It has, after all, increased in value by more than 500 percent over the past five years. But it still has room to grow.

Ads generate 98 percent of Facebook’s revenue — and that revenue is growing, with the company reporting a 49 percent year-over-year jump in the third quarter of 2017, thanks to its hiking ad prices and running more ads. What’s more, it has some 6 million active advertisers on its Facebook platform alone, and that number is up 50 percent year over year.

The more ways Facebook can find to make money off its massive base of more than 2 billion monthly active users, the greater its potential. For instance, it recently added housing rentals in its Marketplace section. The company also owns the photo-sharing service Instagram and the WhatsApp messaging app, both of which are growing.

With its market value recently topping half a trillion dollars, Facebook’s growth rates can’t last forever. Even if they’re halved, though, they would still be strong. Meanwhile, net profit margins are ridiculously fat, recently topping 40 percent.

With its forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio near 27 recently, give Facebook some consideration for your long-term portfolio. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and has recommended Facebook.).