By Noah Rayman
Facebook shares soared Thursday morning after the social network reported strong earnings that outstripped expectations the day before.
The stock rose roughly eight points, or 15 percent, by 9:45 a.m., following a smaller surge in after-hours trading late Wednesday.
The company announced Wednesday that it pulled in $523 million in profits in the fourth quarter of 2013, about an eight-fold increase over the same quarter last year, as ads on the site became increasingly valuable. Profits on the year reached $1.5 billion, up from just $53 million in 2012.
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Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com