Facebook's profit soars, lifted by mobile ads

Facebook on Wednesday delivered another blockbuster earnings performance, showing solid growth in mobile ad revenues as the social network expands into new services. Profit leapt 166 percent to $2.4 billion on revenue that surged to $7 billion from $4.5 billion during the same period a year earlier, third quarter results showed.

"We had another good quarter," Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in the earnings release. "We're making progress putting video first across our apps and executing our 10 year technology roadmap."

Zuckerberg has laid out a long-term vision for Facebook that includes virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and even providing internet service to remote areas using self-flying drones. Facebook's third quarter earnings results "displayed strong top-line momentum and improved profitability," Baird Equity Research said in a note to investors.

The social network had an average of 1.79 billion monthly users as of the end of September in a 16 percent jump from a year earlier, according to the earnings report. The number of people accessing Facebook from mobile devices monthly climbed 20 percent to 1.66 million. Revenue from mobile advertising accounted for about 84 percent of the ad money taken in by Facebook during the quarter, up from 78 percent during the same three-month period last year, according to the social network.

Facebook has become a powerhouse in online advertising, getting traction from new formats on mobile and its ability to glean data to deliver personalized or targeted marketing messages. The research firm eMarketer estimates that worldwide ad revenues at Facebook will reach nearly $26 billion this year, up from $17.08 billion in 2015, and hit more than $33 billion in 2017. It is also starting to bring in ad revenue from its Instagram photo- and video-sharing application. Facebook recently took direct aim at video-loving adolescents, and Snapchat, with the release of a Lifestage iPhone app that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates.