Facebook Inc (FB) Earnings Beat: 17 Cents vs. 15

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) released earnings for the last three month of 2012 this afternoon after the market closed. The social networking company revealed earnings of $17 cents per share for the period and reported revenues of $1.59 billion. In after market trading, the market met the announcement with derision despite the beat. The stock was down more than 7% right after the announcement.

Analysts were expecting the company to reveal earnings per share of 14 cents, and revenue of $1.5 billion. The important factors in the earnings report are the growth of...