Facebook Reports Q1 Earnings; Revenue grows 72%

This afternoon, Wednesday, April 23, 2014, Facebook

announced its first quarter earnings. Shares of the company are up 2.23 percent or $1.37 per share to $62.73 after the company beat analysts' estimates. The social media giant reported that its mobile ads represented about 59 percent of its ad revenue in the first quarter, representing a year-over-year gain of about 30 percent. Additionally, the company had its aggregate revenue grow 72 percent year-over-year to $2.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $2.36 billion according to Thomson Reuters. The company also posted a first quarter profit of $642 million, or $0.25 per share, this compared with a profit of only $219 million or $0.09 per share a year earlier. The company is also having its chief financial officer, David Ebersman, leave later this year. Ebersman will be succeeded by David Wehner. Wehner is currently Facebook's Vice President, Corporate Finance and Business Planning. "Facebook's business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "We've made some long term bets on the future while staying focused on executing and improving our core products and business. We're in great position to continue making progress towards our mission." Payments and other fees revenue was $237 million for the first quarter of 2014.