Updated from 4:13 p.m. to include comments from the earnings call throughout.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Facebook (FB) reported on Wednesday first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations as advertising revenues grew more than expected.
Revenue for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $2.5 billion, an increase of 72%, compared with $1.46 billion in the first quarter of 2013. First-quarter revenue of $2.36 billion was expected, according to Thomson ONE Analytics.
Revenue from advertising was $2.27 billion, an 82% increase from the same quarter last year. Mobile ad revenue represented about 59% of advertising revenue in the first quarter, up from about 30% of ad revenue the same time last year. Analysts on average were expecting total ad revenue of $2.14 billion, a 71% increase year-over-year.
CFO David Ebersman said during the company's earnings call mobile ad revenue was up 7% sequentially despite the seasonal benefits of the fourth quarter.
"Mobile continues to be a big opportunity," chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg underscored during the call. "Our goal is to make our ads as interesting and valuable as the organic content that you find on Facebook."
The company added that its shift to news feed ads have allowed for higher pricing because of higher engagement and click-through rates.
Facebook provided user-engagement numbers as of March. Daily active users (DAUs) were 802 million on average for March 2014, an increase of 21% year-over-year. Mobile DAUs were 609 million on average for March, an increase of 43% year-over-year. Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.28 billion as of March 31, 2014, an increase of 15% year-over-year. Mobile MAUs were 1.01 billion as of March 31, an increase of 34% year-over-year. "We tracked how many people use Facebook, not just every day, but what percent of people use it six out seven days a week ... this last quarter, that number surpassed 50%," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses and income tax adjustments, non-GAAP net income was $885 million, up 184%. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was 34 cents, up 183%. The Wall Street earnings estimate was 24 cents. Facebook also announced that Ebersman has informed the company of his intention to step down as chief financial officer. On June 1, 2014, he will be succeeded as CFO by David Wehner, currently Facebook's vice president of corporate finance and business planning. --Written by James Rogers, Andrea Tse and Antoine Gara in New York
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