Facebook Shares Jump on Strong Fourth Quarter Results

Facebook Inc. posted solid financial results during the fourth quarter. Earnings and revenue surpassed expectations, driven by strong growth in its mobile advertising business as companies continue their push to reach consumers on mobile phones.

The company showed no indications of slowdown in growth, as quarterly profit came in at $3.57 billion, more than twofold of the $1.56 billion it posted a year ago. The social media firm also reported sales rose 51% to $8.81 billion, surpassing analyst estimates.

Monthly active users on Facebook also rose 17% on-year to 1.86 billion, with 1.23 billion checking their accounts daily and 1.74 billion users accessing it through their mobile phones.

Facebook has now solidified its position as the number 2 in the mobile advertising market, following Alphabet Inc.'s Google.

In November, the company cautioned that ad growth would slow significantly due to ad load limits . But the results showed little indication of this flagged slump as revenue jumped to $8.81 billion from $5.84 billion a year prior.

Adjusted profit is at $1.41 per share, higher than the estimated $1.31 average by analysts. Facebook shares jumped as much as 3.6% in late hours trading after the report and settled at $133.23 in NY trading

News are provided by InstaForex