Facebook beat Wall Street’s estimates by reporting a 49% growth in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2014.
The growth was triggered by mobile advertising for smartphones and tablets, with an estimated two-third of its advertising revenue coming from mobile ads.
The total revenue from advertising was $3.59bn, which is 53% more than what it earned during the same quarter last year.
Contribution from mobile ad revenue increased to 69%, rising from 66% in the third quarter, and 53% during corresponding quarter a year earlier.
Payments and other fees revenue increased 7% year on year to $257m.
According to the social media giant, by the end of 2014 the website had 1.39 billion users, with 86% using mobile devices to access the service.
Daily active users (DAUs) were 890 million on average for December 2014, an increase of 18% year-over-year.
The company’s overall revenue growth exceeded by its operating expenses, which grew nearly 87% due to increases in research and development costs and marketing and sales spending, according Reuters.
In 2015 Facebook is expected to make heavy investment as it is expanding its offerings including WhatsApp, virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift and photo-sharing service Instagram.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "We got a lot done in 2014. Our community continues to grow and we’re making progress towards connecting the world."
