It was yet another beat for Facebook, as the social media behemoth reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2015 on Wednesday. After losing nearly three percentage points by close of business, Facebook stock is trading up more than six percent in after-hours trading.
Revenue topped $5.84 billion in Q4, up from $3.85 billion a year ago and ahead of the $5.37 billion analysts had anticipated for the quarter. Earnings per share (Non-GAAP) came in at $0.79, well above the $0.68 expected, and up from $0.54 a year ago. Net income surged from $701 million a year ago to $1.56 billion in Q4 2015.
Advertising revenue, which accounts for the bulk of Facebook’s earnings, came in at $5.6 billion for the quarter, also well ahead of the $5.2 billion that analysts had estimated. Ad revenue grew 57 percent year over year from $3.6 billion. The company saw solid ad growth in all regions, including the US and Canada, which generated over $2.8 billion in ad revenue.
Remarkably, the average advertising revenue per user in the US and Canada was $12.89 in Q4,15. That’s up from $9.86 in the previous quarter and $8.26 in Q4 2014. Overall, ad revenue per user rose to $3.60, up from $2.83 in Q3 and $2.62 in the Q4 2014.
Mobile ads continued to account for a greater percentage of total the revenue pie, climbing to 80 percent of ad revenue in the fourth quarter, compared to 78 percent the previous quarter.
Daily Active Users (DAUs) ticked up to 1,04 billion in the fourth quarter, up from 1,01 billion in Q3 and 890 billion a year ago.
The number of monthly active users only accessing Facebook properties via mobile also continued to climb, reaching 823 million in the fourth quarter, up from 727 million in Q3 and 456 million a year ago.
Facebook executives will hold a call with investors today at 5:00 p.m. ET; you can stream the call here.
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