Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) on Wednesday reported profit that more than doubled in its second quarter, and topped analysts’ expectations.

Revenue from mobile advertising continued to grow, and more people used it, more often.

The company’s shares climbed nearly 4 percent in extended trading after the results came out, signaling that they could hit a record high when the stock market opens on Thursday. Investors who bought — and held on to — Facebook stock during the company’s initial public offering two years ago are now close to doubling their money.

The Menlo Park, California-based company said earnings rose to $788 million, or 30 cents per share, from $331 million, or 13 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

“We had a good second quarter,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO. “Our community has continued to grow, and we see a lot of opportunity ahead as we connect the rest of the world.”

Earnings, adjusted for stock option expense, were 42 cents per share. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 33 cents per share.

The company said revenue climbed 61 percent to $2.91 billion from $1.81 billion in the same quarter a year ago, and beat Wall Street forecasts. Analysts expected $2.8 billion, according to Zacks.

Facebook shares have climbed $16.64, or 30 percent, to $71.29 since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed 7.5 percent. The stock has increased $44.78, or more than doubled, in the last 12 months.

Operational highlights as reported by the company included:

  • Daily active users (DAUs) were 829 million on average for June 2014, an increase of 19% year-over-year.
  • Mobile DAUs were 654 million on average for June 2014, an increase of 39% year-over-year.
  • Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.32 billion as of June 30, 2014, an increase of 14% year-over-year.
  • Mobile MAUs were 1.07 billion as of June 30, 2014, an increase of 31% year-over-year.

Facebook’s revenue jumped 61 percent to $2.91 billion from $1.81 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts expected $2.8 billion. This was the fifth quarter in a row that Facebook beat Wall Street’s forecasts.

Advertising revenue jumped 67 percent to $2.68 billion. Mobile ad revenue, a closely watched figure, was 1.66 billion, or 62 percent of Facebook’s total advertising revenue for the quarter. In the first three months of the year, mobile ads accounted for 59 percent of Facebook’s total ad revenue.

The steady increase indicates that Facebook is succeeding in steering advertisers to its mobile platform at a time when most of its users are using mobile devices to access the social network.

Facebook had 1.32 billion active users at the end of June, up 14 percent from a year earlier. On average, 829 million people used Facebook every day in June, up 19 percent from a year earlier. The number of people who log in at least once a day on mobile devices was 654 million on average in June, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

Facebook has been growing its share of the worldwide digital advertising market, but it’s still a long way from catching up to rival Google Inc. In 2013, Facebook had a nearly 6 percent share of the market compared with Google’s 32 percent according to research firm eMarketer. This year, Facebook is expected to grow its slice to nearly 8 percent, while Google’s should decline slightly, to just below 32 percent.

Facebook’s stock jumped $2.77, or 3.9 percent, to $74.06 in extended trading after the results came out. The stock had closed up $2.02 at $71.29.

The full earnings report can be read online.