Facebook Beats Q3 Views, Shares Rise

Shares of

gained around 2 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday. The Menlo Park, California-based company reported quarterly net income of $896 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to $806 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.57 per share. Its revenue climbed to $4.50 billion from $3.20 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.52 per share on revenue of $4.37 billion. The average estimate among 570 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.54 per share and revenue of $4.40 billion. As of September 30, monthly active users climbed 14 percent year-over-year to 1.55 billion, while daily active users gained 17 percent to 1.01 billion. At the end of the third quarter, the company had $15.83 billion in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities. "We had a good quarter and got a lot done," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "We're focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world." Facebook shares gained 1.92 percent to $105.94 in after-hours trading.