Facebook Q4 revenue rises more than expected

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc's fourth-quarter revenue jumped 63 percent, beating Wall Street targets, as the Internet company's mobile ad sales continued to accelerate.

Shares of Facebook were up 7 percent at $57.36 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

The world's largest social networking company said that revenue from mobile ads represented 53 percent of its total advertising revenue in the last three months of the year, or $1.24 billion, versus the 49 percent proportion that mobile ads represented in the third quarter.

Facebook said it now has 1.23 billion monthly users, with 945 million accessing the service on a smartphone or tablet.

Overall revenue in the fourth quarter rose to $2.585 billion, compared with $1.585 billion in the year-ago period and above the $2.33 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Facebook reported net income of $523 million, or 20 cents a share, versus $64 million or 3 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, Facebook said it earned 31 cents a share.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Sandberg a billionaire as Facebook shares hit new high

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook shares climbed to a new high on Tuesday, catapulting chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg onto the roster of tech billionaires.

Shares of the world's leading social network closed the Nasdaq trading day at $58.51, shedding a few cents in after-hours trade.

Sandberg owns about $750 million worth of Facebook stock and is said to have sold about $300 million worth of shares since the California-based company became a publicly traded company in May of 2012.

The 44-year-old former Google executive is also reported to have stock options for nearly five million shares that began vesting last year.

The social media giant started by Mark Zuckerberg, which now has more than 1.1 billion users around the globe, had a rocky debut after it went public at $38 a share with a valuation of $16 billion.

Facebook shares dropped below $20 during the ensuing months and only climbed back over their offer price in July of last year.

Zuckerberg, who will turn 30 in May, has a personal fortune estimated at about $19 billion.

Facebook will release its quarterly earnings figures next week. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Facebook's Sandberg says it's OK for women to cry at work

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an interview published Saturday says it's ok for women to cry at work, share emotions and be honest about their femininity.

Sandberg shot to global fame after the the publication of her best-selling book "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead" which talks about women's career struggles and advises women to "lean in" to reach their potential.

It has drawn bouquets from admirers for articulating a new modern feminist vision and brickbats from critics who say her lofty position has made her out-of-touch with the gruelling personal cost of combining career and family.

In an interview with “India's Mint” business daily, the 43-year-old admitted: "I cry at work," adding women are not "one type of person Monday through Friday" and "then a different person in the nights and weekend."

"I think we are all of us emotional beings and it's okay for us to share that emotion at work," said Facebook's number two, who was named in “Time Magazine's” 2013 list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Studies have shown women are more prone than men to cry at work because males are schooled not to cry in public and it can hurt their career progression.

Sandberg, who is married with two young children, said on the subject of her book "the messages of believing in yourself and sitting at the table, getting compensated fairly, those can happen at any point in your career."

It is necessary to talk about gender-related issues honestly in the workplace, and a need for employers to say: "I am here to support you", she added in the interview.

The question of whether women can "have it all" in terms of pursuing careers and raising families is "very problematic", added Sandberg, who got $26.2 million in salary, bonus and shares last year from the US social networking giant.

Men never face such questions because society assumes they can have both professions and children, she said in the interview.

A huge percentage of women globally have both children and work full-time, but to do so they must get the "support they need at the workplace and at home," Sandberg said. – Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com