San Francisco: Facebook reported Tuesday that its quarterly profit climbed in the recently ended quarter, but the world’s leading social network — mired in a spate of controversies — gained fewer users than analysts had expected.
The company said profit had climbed nine per cent to $5.14 billion (Dh18.9 billion) on revenue that leaped 33 per cent to $13.7 billion in the quarter that ended September 30.
The number of people who used Facebook monthly rose 10 per cent to 2.27 billion, but analysts had expected that figure to be slightly higher.
The figures came as Facebook strives to fend off concerns about how well it protects the data of users and defends against use of the site to spread misinformation aimed at swaying elections.
Controversies that have battered Facebook since the 2016 presidential election in the US have even caused some to question whether co-founder Mark Zuckerberg should continue as chief executive.
“Our community and business continue to grow quickly, and now more than two billion people use at least one of our services every day,” Zuckerberg said in the earnings release.
“We’re building the best services for private messaging and stories, and there are huge opportunities ahead in video and commerce as well.”
Facebook shares rose 2.46 per cent to $149.82 in after-market trading, following release of the earnings figures.
