Facebook beats fourth quarter forecasts on mobile ads

Facebook shares edged higher in after-hours trading as investors reacted to a stronger-than-expected set of quarterly figures.

The social media and advertising giant reported a stonking 53% jump in year-on-year advertising revenues, led by sales through mobile ads.

Meanwhile, the number of active monthly users on the platform, one of the industry´s key metrics, climbed 17% to 1.86bn.

The above drove an improvement in its fourth quarter sales from $5.8bn one year ago to $8.81bn (consensus: $8.51bn) and saw quarterly net income grow from $1.6bn or 54 cents per share in the year ago period to $3.6bn or $1.21 for the latest three-month stretch.

Excluding extraoridnary items and on a non-GAAP basis quarterly EPS clocked in at $1.41 (consensus: $1.31).

Shares in Facebook gained 2.23% after the closing bell to $133.23.