Facebook Inc.’s revenue beats analysts’ estimates amid mobile push

Facebook Inc. made a statement announcing that more than half of its advertising revenue for the last quarter came from mobile devices. The company said that its revenue increased by 63% and reached 2.59 billion dollars, and its profit excluding some items, was estimated to 31 cents a share. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the analysts forecast sales of 2.35 billion dollars and profit of 27 cents.

Over the last year, the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook Inc. – Mark Zuckerberg, who is not only the founder of the company ten years ago, but also managed to turn it into the largest social network in the world, became more focused on providing advertisers with more ways to reach consumers.

The Chief Financial Officer of the company said in an interview cited by Bloomberg: “The investments weve made to improve our mobile products are paying off. We sill feel like were really early and very much in investment mode in terms of what were trying to build here.”

The company posted information that it had 1.23 billion monthly active users in December 2013, which is 16% more users than the ones from 2012. 945 million of these users are said to be using their mobile phones to enter Facebook. More time is spent by the users on wireless devices, and during the latest quarter mobile promotions generated 1.25 billion dollars and accounted for 53% of ad sales, which is a 4-percent-increase compared to the results of the prior period.

Eric Steiman, who owns Facebook in a portfolio of 5.5 billion dollars at Covestor Ltd said for Bloomberg: “If Facebook isnt a teen product, then the teens are using Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook, so I think the fear is a little exaggerated. The number of people on the platform is truly remarkable.”

One of the analysts working for Oracle Investment Research – Laurence Balter, said for Bloomberg: “Mobile is so key for them. Its going to be a big battle between Facebook and Twitter, and its Facebooks game to lose.”

The shares of the company increased as much as 12% in extended trading. Its net income rose from 64 million dollars, or 3 cents a share to 523 million dollars, or 20 cents a share.

Facebook Inc. also announced that the company would look forward to boosting the quality, or relevance, of advertisements rather than quantity. This, in turn, means that the company may be expected to charge more for promotions.

According to CNN Money, the current share price of Facebook Inc. is 2.92% down, and its one-year return rate is 2.05% down. The 40 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Facebook Inc. have a median target of 62.00, with a high estimate of 72.50 and a low estimate of 42.00. the median estimate represents a +15.82% increase from the last price of 53.53.