Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) earnings impressed late in the afternoon Wednesday, helping to send FB stock surging after hours.
The social media site said that for its fourth quarter of its fiscal 2018, it brought in adjusted earnings of $2.38 per share, topping the $2.19 per share that analysts were calling for, according to data compiled by Refinitiv. The figure was also 65% higher than it was during the year-ago quarter.
Facebook added that its revenue for the period tallied up to $16.91 billion, also handily beating the $16.39 billion that analysts forecasted, per Refinitiv. Mark Zuckerberg’s company had 1.52 billion daily active users on average, 1.8% higher than during the year-ago quarter and in line with the Refinitiv guidance.
Its monthly active users were also up 1.8% year-over-year at 2.32 billion, which was also right on the money with what Refinitiv forecasted. Facebook added that its average revenue per user figure tallied up to $7.37, which was better than the $7.11 per share that analysts polled by FactSet were guiding. This figure was also 21% higher than it was during the previous quarter and 19% above its year-ago period.
“Our community and business continue to grow,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “We’ve fundamentally changed how we run our company to focus on the biggest social issues, and we’re investing more to build new and inspiring ways for people to connect.”
FB stock is soaring about 8.1% after the bell on Wednesday as the company posted its latest quarterly earnings results, which came in well ahead of what analysts were calling for in the Wall Street consensus estimate. Shares had surged over 4.3% during regular trading hours.
