Facebook Stock Soars Following Big Earnings Beat

Shares of Facebook jumped more than 6% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales. The company reported net income of $1.5 billion, or 52 cents a share, compared with $512 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted for one-time items, Facebook said it earned 77 cents a share, widely trumping the 62 cents a share analysts in a FactSet poll had projected. The company's revenue soared to $5.4 billion from $3.5 billion last year, above the $5.3 billion FactSet consensus estimate. Mobile monthly active users improved by 15% year-over-year to 1.65 billion users. Advertising accounted for the vast majority of Facebook's quarterly revenue, climbing 57% over the same period last year to $5.2 billion. The company did not provide specific numbers for its new consumer-tier virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift.