Facebook blows away analysts with strong financials

Facebook smashed analyst expectations in its latest quarterly earning report, with the social media giant generating US$2.5 billion in revenue.

Ending March 31, 2014, the company also reported a surge in mobile users, transforming users into hard cash through advertising on devices.

"Facebook's business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014," says Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO, Facebook.

"We've made some long term bets on the future while staying focused on executing and improving our core products and business.

“We're in great position to continue making progress towards our mission."

First Quarter 2014 Operational Highlights:

• 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 2014, 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, 2014, an increase of 34% year-over-year.

First Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights:

Revenue - Revenue for the first quarter of 2014 totalled $2.50 billion, an increase of 72%, compared with $1.46 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

• Revenue from advertising was $2.27 billion, an 82% increase from the same quarter last year.

• Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 59% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2014, up from approximately 30% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2013.

• Payments and other fees revenue was $237 million for the first quarter of 2014.

CFO transition…

Facebook also announced that David Ebersman has informed the company of his intention to step down as chief financial officer after serving in the position for almost five years.

On June 1, 2014, he will be succeeded as CFO by David Wehner, currently Facebook's Vice President, Corporate Finance and Business Planning.

Ebersman will remain with the company through September to ensure a seamless transition of his responsibilities.

Wehner joined Facebook in November 2012 from Zynga, where he served as CFO.

Earlier, he spent nine years at Allen & Company where he was a managing director. Wehner has a B.S. in Chemistry from Georgetown University, and an M.S. in Applied Physics from Stanford University.

"David has been a great partner in building Facebook, and I'm grateful for everything he's done to help make the world more open and connected," Zuckerberg says.

“David set us up to operate efficiently and make the long term investments we need, and built an incredibly strong team including Dave Wehner, our next CFO.

“I look forward to working with Dave in his new role."

"This has been a tough decision because Facebook is such a great company and has such a bright future ahead, but I've decided to move back into healthcare where I spent my career before Facebook," Ebersman adds.

"It's been a privilege working at Facebook and being part of such a great team.

“We have an incredibly talented finance organisation, and I have complete confidence in Dave Wehner and his ability to lead the team going forward."