Still got it: Facebook mobile ad revenue continues to surge

NEW YORK — Nearly three-quarters of Facebook's advertising revenue now comes from mobile ads, as many more users access the social network on smartphones and other hand-held gadgets.

On that front, the company is doing fine — better, even, than it has in previous quarters. But the rate of its overall revenue growth slowed in the first three months of this year, causing its high-flying stock to tumble after the results came out.

Yesterday (April 22) marked the first time since early 2013 that Facebook failed to top Wall Street's expectations with its results, and shares of the Menlo Park, California, company fell more than 2 per cent after-hours trading.

Facebook has grown mobile ad revenue steadily since 2012, when it started showing ads for the devices' smaller screens. In the previous quarter, mobile represented 69 per cent of total advertising revenue.

The social network had 1.44 billion monthly active users as of last month, up 13 per cent from a year earlier. The number of users who accessed Facebook on mobile devices at least once a month grew 24 per cent to 1.25 billion.

Facebook's share of the US$42.6 billion (S$57.3 billion) worldwide mobile advertising market was 17.4 per cent last year, according to research firm eMarketer, up from 16.4 per cent a year earlier. In comparison, Google's share was 38.2 per cent, down from 46 per cent a year earlier.

The company reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share in the January-March quarter, above the 41 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Revenue increased 46 per cent to US$3.54 billion, from US$2.5 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected US$3.56 billion.

Net income declined as Facebook's expenses grew 83 per cent from a year earlier. The company earned US$512 million, or 18 cents per share, down 20 per cent from US$642 million, or 25 cents per share.

Facebook, which bought the popular photo-sharing app Instagram and the messaging service WhatsApp, has been coming out with its own stand-alone mobile apps to capture more of the time people spend on phones. Besides its Messenger app, though, Facebook's home-grown efforts have had limited success.

Yesterday, it introduced Hello, a voice-calling app designed for Android phones. In essence, it's meant to replace the voice dialler on your phone. But based on Facebook's inability to persuade users to install its Home app, which lets Facebook take over the home screen on Android, users may not be too keen on replacing existing smartphone tools with Facebook-branded versions.

Facebook finance chief David Wehner said mobile “continues to be a key driver” of Facebook's growth. He said Facebook will continue to experiment with apps for mobile. For now, the money-making focus is on Facebook itself and, slowly, on popular, established apps such as Instagram.

Shares in Facebook fell US$1.76 to US$82.87 in extended trading after the earnings report. At the close of regular-session trading yesterday, the stock stood at US$84.63, an 8.5 per cent increase since the start of the year. AP