Facebook shares expected to climb back to IPO price soon

While its balance sheet has been improving over the last few quarters, Facebook surprised virtually everyone with a smash hit, second quarter earnings report last week.

Now executives at the Menlo Park, Calif.-based operation might having the last laugh (at least this week) as Facebook shares approach the original $38 per share stock price.

Since going public on the Nasdaq in May 2012, the world's largest social network has faced an uphill battle against analysts, the media, and even users alike in reassuring everyone that it had a viable product.

The situation fell into such turmoil that this past March the NASDAQ OMX Group, the parent company for the technology-heavy stock exchange, finally issued an apology of sorts by promising up to $62 million in cash to investors involved.

That wasn't enough for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which slapped the American stock exchange with a $10 million penalty over poor decisions made as well as systems set up during the initial public offering and secondary trading scheme.

However, the tide has turned at least for Facebook itself.

The key to Facebook's growing success as of late appears to be its mobile-first strategy, a theme that has been particularly promoted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

It was perhaps his conversation with Michael Arrington during TechCrunch 2012 in San Francisco last September that shifted the limelight away from scrutiny over the IPO toward the renewed mobile agenda.

As investors and analysts have found renewed faith in the social media company, Facebook shares were up as high as $37.08 a pop at one point on Tuesday afternoon, according to the latest MarketWatch figures.

Still currently trading ahead of the bell, Facebook shares have settled just under that figure.

To recall, Facebook went public at $38 per share. We could see Facebook hit that figure again -- and surpass it -- this week.

Screenshot via Yahoo Finance