Facebook now worth more than Wal-Mart on stock market

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) pushed ahead of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) on the stock market this week after posting gains to share prices Tuesday.

The world’s largest social network this week edged the world’s largest retailer out of the top 10 highest-valued companies on Standard & Poor’s 500 index Monday, a list topped by tech giants Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Facebook was valued at $238 billion at the market’s close Tuesday, gaining $3.14 a share, or close to 4 percent, at $87.88. The company’s shares are up 34 percent in the past 12 months, compared with 8.2 percent for the S&P 500. Wal-Mart closed at $72.57 a share Tuesday, barely above the stock’s 52-week low of $71.70.

Facebook’s total revenue for the first three months of the year totaled $3.54 billion, a little more than Wal-Mart’s fiscal first-quarter profits of $3.34 billion, according to Arkansas Business.

Read more from The Associated Press.