Zynga shares edge upwards on day three

Shares in the social games giant Zynga have climbed on the third day since the San Francisco group launched on Nasdaq.

The company’s valuation sank from $10 to $9.50 per share on Friday, and down again to $9.05 the following Monday – sparking fears that the world’s most successful Facebook games firm would struggle to capture the interest of investors.

On Tuesday the markets closed with Zynga up 1.6 per cent, of which some analysts say was partly buoyed by a more prosperous day in general. The Nasdaq composite index rose about 3.2 per cent on increased confidence in the Eurozone rescue.

Zynga, whose fortune is largely due to franchises such as Farmville, was this week analysed with an “outperform” stock rating from Wedbush Morgan.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects Zynga’s share price to reach $12.50 by December next year.

"By virtually any metric, it is clear that Zynga is the dominant developer of social games, claiming six of the top ten most popular games on Facebook by DAUs," he said in a report issued yesterday.

"We believe that Zynga’s dominance is its key strength as the company leverages its large installed base of players each time it launches a new game."