Facebook trumps Wall Street estimates on blistering ad sales growth

Facebook Inc's quarterly profit and revenue blew past Wall Street estimates as the company's hugely popular mobile app and a push into video attracted new advertisers and encouraged existing ones to spend more.

Facebook shares rose 6.7 per cent in after hours trading on Wednesday.

Mobile advertising revenue accounted for 84 per cent of the company's total advertising revenue, compared with 76 per cent a year earlier.

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Total advertising revenue surged 63 per cent to $6.24 billion US, beating the average analyst estimate of $5.80 billion, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

Facebook is one of the biggest beneficiaries as advertisers move money away from TV to the Internet and mobile platforms. The company has been beefing up its presence in the mobile video market, where Snapchat and YouTube pose strong competition.

The company is also exhorting advertisers to experiment with Facebook Live, its recently launched live video product.

Facebook said about 1.71 billion people used the site monthly as of June 30, up from 1.49 billion a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 97 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 82 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The net income attributable to Facebook's stockholders rose to $2.05 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $715 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total revenue rose 59.2 per cent to $6.44 billion, compared with the estimate of $6.02 billion.