Wall Street is giving a thumbs up to Facebook Inc.

After the social-media giant reported better-than-expected earnings and a jump in advertising revenue Wednesday, 22 analysts raised their price target on the company’s shares, according to FactSet.

Facebook is “firing on all cylinders,” wrote Mark May, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. He upped his 12-month price target from $97 to $112, 20% above where the stock trades Thursday at $93.30.

The internet company saw revenue climb 39% in the second quarter as ad dollars ballooned. The company generated 95% of its sales from ads, with the bulk coming from mobile.

Among the 52 analysts who follow Facebook that FactSet tracks, the average price target now stands at $107.32. Nearly nine out of every 10 analysts have a bullish rating on shares.

Despite the vote of confidence from stock analysts Thursday, Facebook shares are off 3.8% in morning trade.

Profits declined 9.1% last quarter for the social network as it continued to spend heavily, especially on employees. Facebook said it hired 873 people in the second quarter, bringing its employee base to 10,955, which is 52% higher than the same time a year ago.

Analysts think the company’s investments will pay off. “When examining the road ahead, we see large pools of revenue opportunity for Facebook from video, Instagram, eCommerce and messaging (both WhatsApp & Messenger),” wrote Eric Sheridan, an analyst at UBS. He increased his 12-month target price to $110 from $92.

The highest target price among those analysts followed by FactSet goes to Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. He sees shares hitting $146, 56% higher than where they are Thursday.

blogs.wsj.com | 30 Jul 2015