Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 80 per cent of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 69 per cent of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014, and 76 per cent in the previous quarter, according to Facebook.
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Of those, 1.44 billion used the service on mobile devices, an increase of 21%. After losing almost three percentage points by close of business, Facebook stock is trading up more than six percent in after-hours trading.
Advertising came in at $5.6 billion for the quarter, also beating the $5.2 billion predicted by analysts, and up 57 percent from $3.6 billion from Q4 2014.
Apart from users of its main social network, Facebook now has several properties that are poised to top 1 billion users, including WhatsApp and Messenger.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, said in a statement that the effect has been dramatic.
Facebook on Wednesday reported sales and earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations as the number of users and mobile ad dollars continued to climb from October to December.
Facebook also now has 1.59 billion monthly active users as of December 31st 2015. “Facebook remains the fastest-growing platform for advertiser spending, and as they open up new channels for users, that won’t change”.
That made it the fourth most valuable technology company, overtaking Amazon, which was valued at about $290 billion ahead of its results later on Thursday.
In January, Facebook began taking orders for a consumer version of the Oculus Rift, a head-mounted virtual reality unit.
“Advertisers are no longer asking us whether they should advertise on mobile, they’re asking how”, he said.
Industry tracker eMarketer expects Facebook to continue to dominate when it comes to online display advertising.
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Surging revenue and profit boosted Facebook shares almost 30 per cent last year, briefly vaulting the 12-year-old company’s market capitalisation above $US300 billion before the recent market pullback.
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Such numbers are truly commendable as they come at a time, when it is making a heavy investment in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, Internet access in remote parts of the world and a mobile ad network for services. Profit excluding some items was 79 cents a share, beating analysts’ average prediction for 68 cents. In its most recent quarter, Facebook earned $13.54 for every user.
