Investors have a right to nitpick, but sometimes you can't deny an entire body of work.
Facebook (FB +0.98%) faced plenty of pressure heading into Wednesday's quarterly report. The stock has more than doubled over the past year, and expectations were high. There can't be a party without a party pooper, and that came in the form of a research report indicating that the social networking website isn't a very effective value proposition for advertisers.
Well, Facebook is apparently a healthy enough proposition to get marketers to spend 66% more on Facebook advertising this past quarter. The company also posted strong gains in mobile, once again eating away at concerns that the shift away from desktop usage will pose a monetization problem for online leaders.
Sure, Facebook did concede that stateside usage has been slipping when it comes to young teens. Kids can be fickle. However, Facebook's performance was encouraging enough to overlook the things that didn't go right.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Coal isn't so hot these days, and that's leading Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) to do away with roughly 230 positions. The coal producer expects plan to naturally reduce its overhead, and nearly half of those positions are already vacant.
- Apple's (AAPL +0.37%) new iPad Air hit stores on Friday. The critically praised tablet starts at $499, but it was available at $479 on launch at Wal-Mart. That led to reports that Apple itself was matching the price for those pointing out the $20 discount.
- Baidu (BIDU +2.45%) shares hit a new all-time high after posting strong quarterly results. The real gem in the Chinese search engine's report is that it sees revenue growth accelerating, with Baidu's top line climbing by at least nearly 50% in the current quarter.
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