Facebook beats with $3.2B but growth is slowing

Facebook saw a slight dip in ad growth and new monthly active users

Shares of Facebook dropped 1.5% in after-hours trading, despite the company posting third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations on Tuesday.

Facebook shares had gone up .61% or $.049, to $80.77 a share in regular trading.

In the earnings report, Facebook posted revenue of $3.2 billion for the quarter, over Wall Street's estimates of $3.12 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 43 cents in the quarter, higher than the 40 cents a share that analysts had been expecting.

So why did the stock take that dip, despite these good numbers? Because growth did slow in a few key areas.

Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.35 billion on average, an increase of 14% year-over-year, while mobile MAUs were 1.12 billion on average, an increase of 29%. MAUs grew 2.27% quarter-to-quarter, lower than the 3.13% growth the company saw in Q2.

Advertising revenue was $2.96 billion for the quarter. It increased 59% from $2.02 billion in the same quarter the year before. Mobile accounted for 66% of that revenue, up from approximately 49% of advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2013. Facebook’s ad revenue had grown 67% percent year-to-year in Q2.

Revenue from payments and fees for the third quarter was $246 million, a 13% increase year-to-year.

GAAP net income was $806 million, a 90% increase from the $425 million the company saw for the third quarter of 2013, while non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $1..15 billion, up 73% compared to $666 million for the third quarter of 2013.

Daily active users (DAUs) were 846 million on average, an increase of 19% year-over-year, while mobile DAUs were 703 million on average, an increase of 39%.

For the year, the stock is up roughly 47%, rising from $54.83 to $80.77 . It has also gained 60% from a year ago, when it was trading at $50.23 a share.

(Image source: nbcnews.com)