Zynga beats expectations as its mobile business starts to pick up social’s slack

Zynga might figure out this whole mobile thing after all.

The social-gaming publisher reported the results for its first quarter, and it outperformed its guidance. It generated bookings of $161 million. That’s down 30 percent compared to the same period in 2013, but it’s actually up from the fourth quarter. It also bests Wall Street’s consensus of $148 million by a good margin. Mobile games like Zynga Poker and Words With Friends were a big part of the publisher’s good performance during Q1, and the company reported an uptick compared to Q4 is several key metrics like the number of players actively engaged in its apps as well as how much people are spending. Gamers spent $16 billion on mobile games in 2013 and another several billion on social.