Facebook reported robust earnings and revenue that handily surpassed Wall Street expectations for the final quarter of 2018 despite heavy spending on safety and security.
Facebook said Wednesday that it earned $6.9 billion, or $2.38 per share, in the October-December period. That’s up 61 percent from $4.3 billion, or $1.44 per share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $2.18 per share.
Revenue increased 30 percent to $16.9 billion, beating expectations of $16.4 billion. Facebook’s stock almost 12 percent in after hours trading to roughly $168.
The social network has been plagued by privacy scandals and the threat of regulation, but those haven’t appreciably slowed its expansion. Its user base, for instance, also grew to 2.32 billion monthly users, up 9 percent from a year earlier – also higher than analyst expectations.
On Wednesday, Facebook’s stock closed up 6 percent at $150. 42 and added 12 percent to $162.82 after hours. That’s still far from the record high of $217.50 that it hit in late July, the day before the historic plunge last year.