Social Media, Quarterly Earnings | featured news

Facebook was once a darling of investors, then a turnoff. Now, a year after going public, the social network seems to have settled into a more stable relationship with Wall Street. But the company has still been taking pains to prove that it can make more money from its base of more than a billion users, especially from those using Facebook on mobile devices.

Quick Take Facebook will release its Q1 2013 earnings on May 1. We expect healthy advertising revenue growth driven by improved mobile monetization and a growing user base. Margins will shrink due to higher headcount related costs and infrastructure investments. We’ll also look for any color on the success of Graph Search, which could be one of the key features of Facebook going forward. Facebook will report its Q1 2013 earnings on May 1. We expect to see mobile advertising results improve driven by the company’s efforts to integrate ads into its mobile platform.

Zynga posted first quarter 2013 earnings that beat analysts expectations, but shares are trading down after-hours on future outlook.

LinkedIn reported fourth quarter 2012 earnings that beat Street expectations, sending shares soaring in late trading.

Zynga reports a sharp drop in its losses in the last three months of 2012, as revenues at the designer of games including Farmville stabilised.

Facebook Inc doubled its mobile advertising from the previous quarter as the world's No. 1 social network expanded its business aggressively onto handheld devices.

Facebook has faced a few controversies in the past few months, including controversies over privacy policies on its own site and on its photo-sharing site, Instagram. Still, the company has bolstered investor confidence with a series of moves that seem to lay the groundwork for Facebook to make more advertising dollars, particularly in the all-important mobile space.

Facebook lost $59 million in the third quarter, but the newly publicly traded social networking site saw its shares soar on Wall Street early Wednesday. Facebook shares gained $4.35, or 22%, to $23.85 in early trading, after the company reported gains from mobile advertising.

Facebook reported better than expected third quarter earnings Tuesday, giving investors hope that the company might find positive momentum. In after hours trading, Facebook stock is up 67 cents, or 3.4%, to $20.16.

Facebook‘s first quarterly report is inspiring few new friends. The social network swung to a loss in the most recent period, casting fresh doubts on the company’s ability to monetize its giant user base. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company posted a $157 million, 8 cents a shares, loss in the quarter, down from a $240 million profit. Excluding hefty stock compensation charges, Facebook earned $295 million, 12 cents a share. That meets the Wall Street forecast.