Corrected - Facebook tops analyst revenue targets as mobile ads surge

(Corrects mobile ad revenue number in third paragraph)

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc topped Wall Street's revenue targets on Wednesday, as robust growth in its mobile advertising business drove a 60 percent increase in revenue.

Shares of Facebook, the world's No.1 online social network, rose 15 percent to $56.45 in after-hours trading.

Revenue from mobile ads, which appear on smartphones, represented 49 percent of Facebook's total advertising revenue in the third quarter, or roughly $880 million. Mobile ads generated roughly $150 million in the year-ago period, when Facebook was just beginning to develop its mobile ad business.

Facebook's total revenue in the third quarter was $2.016 billion, ahead of the average analyst expectation of $1.911 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

 

Facebook said it earned net income of $425 million, or 17 cents a share, in the three months ended September 30, compared with a net loss of $59 million, or 2 cents a share in the year-ago period. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Bernard Orr)