Facebook Inc (FB) Earnings Beat Analysts Estimates; Stock Soars

The shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) rebounded after reporting its first quarter earnings results to beat the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts. The stock price of the company closed at $61.36 a share, down by 2.65%, but it went up by nearly 4% to $63.50 during the extended hours trading, around 5:40 in the afternoon in New York.

Financial results

The social network giant reported $885 million net income or $0.34 diluted earnings per share (Non-GAAP) on $2.5 billion revenue for the three months period that ended March 31. During the year-ago quarter, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) delivered  $219 million net income or $0.12 diluted earnings per share on $1.46 billion revenue.

The earnings of the social network giant for the first quarter exceed the $0.24 earnings per share on $2.34 billion revenue forecasted by Wall Street analysts.

According to the social network giant, its advertising revenue increased 82% to 2.27 billion while its payments and other fees revenues were $237 million for the quarter. Its mobile advertising revenue accounts 59% of its advertising revenue.

In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said, the company’s “business is strong and growing and this quarter was a great start to start 2014.” He added, “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.”

Active users

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said its daily active users (DAUs)  increased 21% to 802 million and its monthly active users (MAUs) climbed 15% to 1.28 billion year-over year.  Its mobile DAUs rose 43% to 609 million and its mobile MAUs increased 34% t0 1.01 billion year-over-year.

David Ebersman resigns as CFO

The social network giant also announced that its Chief Financial Officer, David Ebersman decided to step down from his position after serving in his position for nearly five years. David Wehner, the current vice president, corporate finance and business planning  of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will take over his role as CFO.

Commenting on Ebersman’s departure,  Zuckerberg said, “David has been a great partner in building Facebook, and I’m grateful for everything he’s done to help make the world more open and connected. David set us up to operate efficiently and make the long-tern investments we need, and built an incredibly strong team…”