Facebook mobile ad sales boost better than expected Q4 revenue of $3.85B

Facebook today reported its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings for 2014, with revenue of $3.85 billion on non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54. These figures beat analyst expectations of $3.77 billion in revenue and $0.48 EPS.

The company also said it closed the year with 1.39 billion monthly active users, up 13 percent over a year earlier, and 1.19 billion mobile monthly active users, up 26 percent from the same time a year ago.

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For all of 2014, Facebook reported revenue of $12.47 billion, up 58 percent year-over-year.

Year over year, Facebook’s revenue is up by 48.9 percent over Q4 2013; in 2014, the company reported $2.59 billion in revenue and GAAP $0.03 ($0.17 non-GAAP) EPS for the fourth quarter. Last quarter, Facebook posted revenue of $3.2 billion and $0.43 EPS, up 58.4 percent from a year earlier.

But for Wall Street, Facebook’s performance isn’t just about its total revenue for the quarter. For them, the question is just as much about mobile ad revenue and user base growth rates.

As such, investors should be pleased; the company reported its fourth quarter mobile ad revenues accounted for 69 percent of its total of $3.59 billion in ad sales. That number was up 53.4 percent year-over-year.

During Q3, Facebook’s ad revenue was $2.96 billion, up 64 percent from a year earlier. Its third-quarter mobile ad revenue accounted for 66 percent of total ad sales, up from 49 percent in Q3 2013.

Payments and fees amounted to $257 million, up 6.64 percent from $241 million during Q4 2013.

Investors reacted swiftly, trading Facebook’s stock up to $76.27 after its Q4 earnings were announced.

Facebook also said it had 890 million daily active users during Q4, 64 percent of monthly actives. That percentage has held remarkably steady over the past four quarters, coming in at 63 percent in Q1 and Q2, and at 64 percent for Q3 and Q4.

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During the fourth quarter, Facebook’s revenues in the United States and Canada amounted to $1.864 billion, 48.4 percent of its total of $3.85 billion. In Europe, revenues totaled $1.03 billion, or 26.75 percent of all revenue. For Asia-Pacific, it was $554 million, or 14.39 percent of total revenue. The rest of the world accounted for just $403 million, or 10.46 percent of the total.

Interestingly, the percentage of Facebook’s revenue in the U.S. and Canada was up in Q4 over the same time a year ago. Last year, the company’s U.S. and Canada revenues were 46.65 percent of its total of $2.59 billion.