Shares of Facebook (FB) are higher today after the company reported progress in its move to mobile. Mobile advertising revenue represented 30% of total ad revenue, according to the company’s first quarter earnings release. That’s up from 23% in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Analyst Larry Haverty of Gabelli Multimedia Trust told financial reporters that he thinks all the increase in ad spending over the next few years will go to Google and Facebook. RBC’s Mark Mahaney says overall ad revenue growth of 43% year-on-year has helped convince him to rate the stock an outperform. He also notes that recent evidence is suggesting that ads on mobile devices may now be as effective as ads on desktops, meaning that firms like Facebook and Google could be able to charge more for mobile ads going forward.
“Facebook’s ad revenue is huge – it’s larger than almost any company in the advertising space, and growing,” said Krishna Subramanian, CMO of Velti, a mobile advertising and marketing firm. “But mobile ad revenue is still a concern and is lagging significantly behind mobile use: 60% of Facebook sessions are initiated on mobile devices.”
Overall Facebook revenue was $1.45 billion for the quarter, up 39% from the year-ago quarter and earnings were $2.17 billion, up 58% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue from advertising was $1.25 billion, 85% of total revenue.
