Facebook (NASDAQ:
FB
) is down another six percent this morning as investors abandon yet
another tech stock after earnings. The stock
plummeted three percent
in after hours trading yesterday after the company released its
fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 earnings results.
"In 2012, we connected over a billion people and became a mobile
company," Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, said in
a
company release
. "We enter 2013 with good momentum and will continue to invest to
achieve our mission and become a stronger, more valuable
company."
The company's four key bullet points were as follows:
Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.06 billion as of December 31,
2012, an increase of 25% year-over-year Daily active users (DAUs)
were 618 million on average for December 2012, an increase of 28%
year-over-year Mobile MAUs were 680 million as of December 31,
2012, an increase of 57% year-over-year Mobile DAUs exceeded web
DAUs for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2012
With more than a billion active users, Facebook is more than the
most powerful social network in the world -- it is easily one of
the most powerful companies in technology.
"What stands out from Facebook's Q4 results is the centrality of
mobile for its service strategy and growth," Eden Zoller, principal
analyst at Ovum, said in an e-mail this morning. "Revenues from
mobile advertising accounted for 23 percent of total advertising
revenues compared to 14 percent in the previous quarter, with
sponsored stories in the mobile news feed and app install ads
proving effective. Wal-Mart (NYSE:
WMT
) alone delivered 50 million mobile ads to customers."
Zoller said that the "solid progress" on mobile advertising
should be "applauded."
Investors have a different opinion. While Facebook had been on
the rise (it soared nearly 48 percent over the last three months),
the stock began to fluctuate this month. Year-to-date, Facebook is
still up more than 11 percent. That could change, however, if the
company continues to endure daily losses.
Facebook's 4Q results
surpassed
Wall Street's expectations. This is quite different from Apple
(NASDAQ:
AAPL
), whose results were just a hair below analysts' inflated
estimates. In the days following Apple's fiscal first-quarter
results, Apple dropped more than 11 percent.
As a result, Wall Street is once again sending the message that
it is not interested in earnings. Rather, investors seem to care
more about crazy rumors and big promises.
They may have been disappointed to learn that Facebook has
no plans to make a smartphone
. This is not merely a corporate denial; this is a fact.
Sometimes investors would prefer to hear about a fantasy -- even
if it can never come true.
Follow me
@LouisBedigianBZ
(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
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