Facebook share price down, reports higher earnings and expenses

Facebook Inc reported on Wednesday quarterly performance that exceeded projections as the social network continued to benefit from increased mobile advertising.

Revenue for the three months ended December 31 climbed to $3.85 billion, compared to the $2.59 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2013. In comparison analysts had projected revenue of $3.80 billion.

Facebooks mobile advertising revenue continued to expand during the quarter and represented around 69% of overall advertising revenue, up from 2013 when it accounted for 53%.

The company reported a 10% increase in average time spent of its 890 million active daily users, including people who visited Facebook daily on their mobile devices, which rose 34% to 745 million.

The number of monthly active users climbed to 13% to 1.39 billion as of December 31. Facebook also said its users were more valuable as it generated additional advertising revenue, which increased 31% to $2.81 per user versus $2.14 a year earlier on a global scale.

However, there was a big difference in per user advertising revenue among regions. In the US and Canada, revenue jumped to $9 a user versus $6.03 in the previous year, while in less developed markets the company stated lower numbers, including the Asia-Pacific region, where revenues reached $1.27 from $0.94 per user.

The social network stated a 87% increase in overall costs to $2.7 billion during the fourth quarter, including expenses for research and development, which more than doubled to $408 million.

In October, Chief Financial Officer David Wehner announced that Facebooks expenses could grow between 50% and 70% during 2015, in line with the companys plan to increase it workforce and heavily invest in advertising technology. The news sent Facebooks shares 10% down.

All-in-all Facebook stated net income of $701 million, or $0.25 a share, up from $523 million, or $0.20 a share, a year earlier. Excluding some items, earning per share stood at $0.54. According to a survey by Thomson Reuters analysts had projected per share earnings of $0.49

“We got a lot done in 2014. Our community continues to grow and were making progress towards connecting the world,” said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook Inc gained 0.61% on Wednesday and closed at $76.24 on the NASDAQ, marking a one-year increase of 38.27%. The company is valued at $212.55 billion. On Thursday the stock fell 0.58% during pre-market trading.

According to the Financial Times, the 43 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Facebook have a median target of $90.00, with a high estimate of $105.00 and a low estimate of $57.54. The median estimate represents a 18.05% increase from the last close price.