Shares in Facebook on Wednesday finally went past the 38-dollar price seen in the company’s initial 2012 public offering, more than a year after falling disastrously shortly after the stock became publicly available.

Facebook shares opened more than 1 per cent up in early trading, reaching $ 38.31 before retreating. The company has been on a rally since last week when it reported better-than-expected earnings led by gains in critically important mobile advertising sales.

Facebook blew past expectations with revenue that came in at $ 1.81 billion for the second quarter. Even more significant was that mobile adverts made up 41 per cent of total ad revenue, up from 30 per cent in the prior quarter.