Facebook 1Q earnings beat forecasts

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook Inc. on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings and sales that beat Wall Street's expectations.

The social media giant reported sales totaling $5.3 billion from January to March, which was above the $5.2 billion in revenue that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated. Mobile ads made up most of the sales in the first quarter, which increased by 52 percent compared with the same period last year.

Facebook earned 77 cents per share, beating expectations of 62 cents per share in the first quarter. Including certain expenses, the tech firm reported earnings of 52 cents per share. Analysts expected earnings of 41 cents per share.

"We had a great start to the year," Facebook founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. "We're focused on our 10 year roadmap to give everyone in the world the power to share anything they want with anyone."

The tech firm also said it has proposed a new class of stock, nonvoting capital stock, known as Class C capital stock. The proposal still needs to be approved at the annual meeting of stockholders June 20.

The company's stock closed slightly up 0.12 percent at $108.89 per share.

Business on 04/28/2016

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