Facebook Stock Climbs On Strong Quarterly Earnings

Shares of Facebook Inc. jumped more than 5% in after-hours trade Wednesday after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales. The social network reported net income of $1.5 billion, or 54 cents a share, compared with $701 million, or 25 cents, in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, Facebook reported earnings of 79 cents a share, above analyst expectations of 68 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue rose 52% year-over-year to $5.8 billion, topping the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. Virtually all of the gains came from advertising, with revenues for ads rising 57% from last year to $5.6 billion. The company also reported continued growth in users, with monthly active users climbing 14% year-over-year to 1.59 billion versus the FactSet estimate of 1.58 billion.