Mobile momentum continues at Facebook

Retailer and CPG companies’ usage of Facebook to engage with customers helped propel the 10-year-old social media platform to record levels of usage, sales and profitability in the fourth quarter.

Facebook said its daily active users increased 22% to 757 million while mobile daily active users increased 49% to 556 million. Those who used Facebook on a monthly basis increased 16% to 1.23 billion and those who did so monthly via a mobile device totaled 945 million.

The record levels of user engagement helped the social media platform grow revenues for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 by 63% to nearly $2.59 billion while full-year revenues advanced 55% to nearly $7.9 billion. Net income increased 116% to $1.13 billion, or 20 cents a share, from $523 million, or three cents a share.

"It was a great end to the year for Facebook," said Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder and CEO. "We're looking forward to our next decade and to helping connect the rest of the world."

The rest of the world will increasingly be connecting via Facebook on a mobile device and the fourth quarter offers more evidence that the company is effectively monetizing mobile. The company noted that 53% of its fourth-quarter revenue of $2.59 billion was generated by mobile, well ahead of the 23% that mobile represented in the fourth quarter the prior year.