In its first quarter 2013 earnings, Facebook
reported strong gains in users, with particular progress on the closely watched
mobile front.
Revenue
also jumped by 38% to $1.46 billion, with ad revenue getting a 43% bounce to
$1.25 billion. Mobile ad revenue accounted for about 30% of total ad revenue.
Profits
rose slightly by 6.8% to $219 million, for 9 cents of earnings per share or 12
cents of adjusted earnings per share that excluded stock based compensation and
some other items.
Analysts
had been expecting revenue of $1.44 billion and adjusted earnings of 13 cents a
share, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an analyst poll by Thomson Reuters.
In
afterhours trading at 6:15 p.m. ET, the stock was down
slightly by 1.22%.
But
the earnings report had generally positive news for investors who had been
worrying about Facebook's ability to capitalize on the ongoing shift of users
from PCs to mobile, which is harder to monetize, and worries that users might
be getting bored with the platform.
Monthly
mobile users hit 751 million on March 31, up 54% from the same period in 2012,
while total monthly active users grew 23% to 1.11 billion.
Daily
active users grew 26% to 665 million from a year earlier.
