Facebook revenue soars, defies Wall St expectations

THE world’s biggest social network has absolutely raked in the money in the last three months, defying all expectations.

(FILES) File photo dated February 25, 2013 taken in Washington, DC, shows the splash page for the Internet social media giant Facebook. Facebook on July 23, 2014 reported that its quarterly profit more than doubled amid big gains in ad revenues and a jump in users. Net income leapt to $791 million during the three months ended June 30 in a 138 percent increase from the $333 million made during the same period a year earlier, according to Facebook. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER / FILES

FACEBOOK is on a roll. The world’s largest online social network posted sharply higher earnings on Wednesday as revenue from mobile advertising continued to grow, and more people used it, more often.

Facebook had 1.32 billion active users at the end of June, up 14 per cent from a year earlier. On average, 829 million people used Facebook every day in June, up 19 per cent from a year earlier. The number of people who log in at least once a day on mobile devices was 654 million on average in June, up 14 per cent from a year earlier.

The company’s shares climbed nearly 4 per cent in extended trading after the results came out, signalling that they could hit a record high when the stock market opens on Thursday. Investors who bought — and held on to — Facebook stock during the company’s initial public offering two years ago are now close to doubling their money.

Facebook said Wednesday that it earned $US788 million, or 30 US cents per share, in the April-June period. That’s up from $US331 million, or 13 US cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Mark Zuckerberg’s network now has 1.32 billion global users.

Adjusted earnings were 42 US cents per share, handily beating Wall Street’s expectations of 33 US cents, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Facebook’s revenue jumped 61 per cent to $US2.91 billion from $US1.81 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts expected $US2.8 billion. This was the fifth quarter in a row that Facebook beat Wall Street’s forecasts.

Advertising revenue jumped 67 per cent to $US2.68 billion. Mobile ad revenue, a closely watched figure, was $US1.66 billion, or 62 per cent of Facebook’s total advertising revenue for the quarter. In the first three months of the year, mobile ads accounted for 59 per cent of Facebook’s total ad revenue.

The steady increase indicates that Facebook is succeeding in steering advertisers to its mobile platform at a time when most of its users are using mobile devices to access the social network.

“We had a good second quarter,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement. “Our community has continued to grow, and we see a lot of opportunity ahead as we connect the rest of the world.”

Mobile is an increasingly important metric for investors.

Facebook has been growing its share of the worldwide digital advertising market, but it’s still a long way from catching up to rival Google Inc. In 2013, Facebook had a nearly 6 per cent share of the market compared with Google’s 32 per cent according to research firm eMarketer. This year, Facebook is expected to grow its slice to nearly 8 per cent, while Google’s should decline slightly, to just below 32 per cent.

Facebook’s stock jumped $US2.77, or 3.9 per cent, to $US74.06 in extended trading after the results came out. The stock had closed up $US2.02 at $US71.29.

Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company have climbed $US16.64, or 30 per cent, to $US71.29 since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed 7.5 per cent. The stock has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Originally published as Facebook revenue soars, defies Wall St expectations