David Marcus, who heads Facebook's (FB) - Get Report Messenger unit, announced that the social media giant's messaging platform now boasts 1.3 billion active monthly users.

The announcement comes just two months after Facebook announced that its WhatsApp, a separate messaging service owned by Facebook, had 1.3 billion monthly users.

Facebook in July started testing ads within the Messenger platform as it explores new avenues for revenue growth. 

Shares of Facebook were rising in pre-market trading, and have surged nearly 50% year-to-date.

Jim Cramer and the AAP team holds a position in Facebook for their Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells FB ? Learn more now.

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