Mobile surprise at Facebook as Q3 reports strong growth

Social networking giant Facebook Inc posted a 32% jump in third-quarter revenue to $1.3 billion as the company reignited advertising growth with the help of larger-than-expected gains in mobile.

Social networking giant Facebook Inc posted a 32% jump in third-quarter revenue to $1.3 billion as the company reignited advertising growth with the help of larger-than-expected gains in mobile.

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The world s No.1 online social network company posted a net loss of $59 million in the three months ended September 30. It had a profit of $227 million a year earlier. Its third-quarter revenue surpassed the average analyst expectation of $1.23 billion.

Advertising revenue increased 36% year-on-year to $1.1 billion but revenue from its payments and other businesses increased just 13% to $176 million.

Mobile revenue made up 14% of total advertising sales which analysts said came in above their expectations.

“Advertising revenue from mobile was the number that really stood out” said Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Arvind Bhatia. “They are saying mobile ad revenue was 14% of total ad revenue. That would be about $140 million and I was expecting $40 or $50 million from this.”