Briefs

Facebook shares soared after the company reported third-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, allaying concerns over the site’s mobile strategy. Mobile ads generated about $150 million during the quarter, equal to 14 percent of all ad revenue. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invested in advertising tools designed to help businesses grab the attention of consumers, who are easily distracted while socializing on smartphones and tablets. About 60 percent of the company’s more than 1 billion members access the service via mobile devices. Even so, Facebook is likely to rank only sixth in U.S. mobile advertising for 2012.

Delta Air Lines is bucking a cargo industry slump by packing more auto parts, mail, and salmon into the bellies of its passenger jets. The No. 2 U.S. carrier has more flexibility to focus on cargo—a business where the profit margin can top 50 percent—than United Continental, which is working out its merger kinks, or American Airlines, which is in bankruptcy. Delta has doubled the amount of mail it carries for the U.S. Postal Service. The cargo operation had sales of $992 million in the first nine months, an almost 29 percent increase over 2011.