Facebook's net income and revenue grew in the first quarter of the year, helped by an increase in mobile ad revenue, a figure that some skeptical investors have been watching closely.
Facebook said last nignt that its net income was $219m, or 9 cents per share, in the three months from January to March.
That was up from $205m, or 9 cents per share, the same time a year ago when the company was still private.
Revenue grew 38% to $1.46 billion from $1.06 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.44 billion.
Excluding special items, mainly related to stock compensation expenses, Facebook earned 12 cents per share, matching the average of analyst expectations, according to FactSet.
California-based Facebook said mobile advertising revenue was 30% of its total ad revenue, amounting to $375m. That was up from 23%, or $306m, in the fourth quarter.
Investors had been worried about Facebook's ability to grow mobile revenue since before its initial public offering nearly a year ago. The number of people who access Facebook on smartphones and tablet computers is growing quickly, but Facebook did not begin showing ads to mobile users until last year.
