Facebook has impressed investors with their third quarter financial report. The social media giant posted earnings per share that beat analysts’ expectations which were heavily increased by a 28% rise in advertising revenue, despite current controversies surrounding the companies handling of data, political ads, and cryptocurrency plans.

Facebook stock which closed on Wednesdays trading at $188.25 rallied in after-hours trading by over 6%. The key statistics that investors are looking at from the social network are their adjusted earnings per share, which the company posted as $2.12 beating estimates of $1.91, alongside revenue of $17.65 billion beating estimates of $17.35 billion.

The social media platform saw extensive gains in mobile ad revenue, which represented almost 94% of the company’s third quarter total advertising income. The platform also saw an increase with daily, and monthly active users, with daily rising to 1.62 billion, and monthly seeing an increase up to 2.45 billion which roughly met analysts’ expectations. However with all of the positive gains, the company also saw an increase in costs, which showed a 32% increase in the third quarter up to $10.5 billion, a huge mark up from a year prior in which costs were $7.94 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of the social media giant said in a statement "We had a good quarter and our community and business continue to grow, we are focused on making progress on major social issues and building new experiences that improve people's lives around the world." Wall Street analysts had expected that Facebook’s strong advertising sales would offset the company’s current battles against its data practices, crypto currency experiment, and advertising policies. Analysts noted that Instagram and its users have become a “virtual money printing press” for Facebook, enabling businesses to boost posts as advertisements for a fee.
Masako Hekima – Bernet International
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