"The work we've done to make mobile the best Facebook experience is showing good results and provides us with a solid foundation for the future," said Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as the social network reported a profit of $331 million for shareholders.
Revenue for the quarter that ended June 30 climbed to $1.81 billion, up 53 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The profit of $331 million compared with a loss of $157 million the California-based company posted in the same quarter last year.
Facebook said 41 per cent of its ad revenues came from mobile, compared with 30 per cent in the prior quarter and virtually nothing a year ago.
"We've made good progress growing our community, deepening engagement and delivering strong financial results, especially on mobile," Zuckerberg said.
Facebook shares leapt more than 19 per cent to $31.75 after the earnings figures were released.
Facebook is expected to increase its share of the $116.82 billion global digital ad market to 5.04 per cent this year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.
The leading social network's portion of the mobile ad market will more than triple to more than $2 billion this year, eMarketer forecast.
Forrester analyst Nate Elliott expressed fear that Facebook may be "pulling the mobile ad lever too hard" and be hitting users with too many marketing messages in an effort to prove itself.
Facebook has made a priority of following its more than one billion members onto smartphones or tablets as lifestyles increasingly revolve around accessing the Internet from mobile devices.
Facebook's stock took a beating after the company's initial public offering, largely because of criticism that the social network wasn't making money from mobile users. The shares sank from an offering price of $38 and have still not recovered.
"We are worried that Facebook seems to have taken the affront of not being able to monetize on mobile a little too much to heart," Elliott said.
"If they feel the need to keep proving their mobile chops, this is going to get ugly for the user," the analyst continued. "I think they have already pumped in too many ads."
Facebook's stellar growth rate is, understandably, continuing to flatten out, Elliott noted. The social network reported that it had 1.15 billion active monthly users as of the end of June in a 21 per cent increase from a year earlier.
The number people accessing the social network from mobile devices each month jumped 51 per cent to 819 million during the same time period.
"It is up to emerging market to accelerate growth in active users, and China is the obvious choice," Elliott said.
"There are 400 million people waiting for a crack at this platform if Facebook could just sit down with the Chinese government and work things out."
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