WhatsApp has gained 50 million new active users since February, when Facebook, Inc. (FB +0.22%) acquired the upstart company in a breathtaking $19 billion cash and stock deal. Fool contributor Tim Beyers explains the implications in the following video.
In a blog post earlier this month, WhatsApp said that it had reached a half-billion active users sharing 700 million photos and 100 million videos each day. That's up from 450 million at the time of the Facebook deal.
Tim says WhatsApp's growth shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Facebook serves more than 1 billion active mobile users each month. Surely, some of them are now using WhatsApp regularly and vice versa. Will that lead to higher Facebook revenues over time? We can't be sure.
For now, all we know is that Facebook's scattershot acquisition strategy and newly federated digital digital empire -- consisting not only of WhatsApp and Oculus VR but also fitness tracker ProtoGeo -- isn't crimping growth. To the contrary. Revenue soared 72% in the first quarter. Per-share profits more than doubled over the same period.
Now it's your turn to weigh in. Do you believe WhatsApp will accelerate revenue and profit growth at Facebook? Please watch the video to get the full story and then leave a comment to let us know your take, including whether you would buy, sell, or short Facebook stock at current prices.
