Things are finally looking up at Facebook after its disastrous IPO in May, as the world’s largest social network recorded its largest share rises as a public company on the back of better than expected results. Facebook posted a small but significant improvement in its previous quarter earnings that pushed up its stock price up […]
Things are finally looking up at Facebook after its disastrous IPO in May, as the world’s largest social network recorded its largest share rises as a public company on the back of better than expected results. Facebook posted a small but significant improvement in its previous quarter earnings that pushed up its stock price up by 19%. The social network reported a loss of $59m (£37m) despite seeing third quarter revenues rise 32% compared with a year earlier.
Facebook revealed that its income rose to $1.26bn, between July and September.
The revenues exceeded expectations, but Facebook’s performance remains in the red, following a loss of $157m in the previous quarter.
Facebook’s shares have lost about 50% since its stock market listing in May.
Facebook revealed that 604 million of its 1.01 billion users access its site using a mobile device.
A bright note for investors was that revenues from advertising increased 36%, between July and September, compared to the same period last year.
“Advertising revenue from mobile was the number that really stood out,” said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach.
Mobile revenue of $152.6m made up 14% of total advertising sales, which analysts said came in above their expectations. A positive sign that the social network has the ability to successfully monetise mobile, as its users continue to shift from the desktop to smartphones and tablets to access the social network.
Chief financial officer, David Ebersman, said Facebook had a “solid performance” in the third quarter.
“People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform,” claimed the chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, in a statement.
At the moment Facebook have only just begun to scratch the surface when it comes to mobile advertising. ‘App Install’ adverts and the occasional sponsored ad show up every once in a while, but nothing overwhelming so far.
