Facebook Posts Record $6.9 Billion Profit Amid Privacy Scandals
MENLO PARK (CBS SF) -- Endless PR crises don't appear to be hurting the bottom line at Facebook.
The company, headquartered in Menlo Park, posted a record $6.9 billion profit for the final three months of 2018 -- a jump of 61% from the same period a year earlier and well ahead of Wall Street estimates.
Facebook's revenue for the quarter rose 30% to $16.9 billion, according to its latest earnings report released Wednesday.
Its user numbers remain impressive as well. Facebook now has 1.52 billion people who use the social network every single day, and 2.32 billion who use it every month, both of which are up 9% from the year prior.
• ALSO READ: Apple Busts Facebook For Distributing Data-Sucking App
The broader Facebook audience is even more staggering. Facebook estimates that 2.7 billion people now use Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger or Facebook itself each month. Two billion people use at least one of these services every day.
Just as importantly, Facebook actually added daily users in Europe and North America, two closely watched and lucrative markets that had previously been stagnant or occasionally declined.
The strong results cap off a brutal year for Facebook. The company earned the ire of users and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic for a growing list of privacy issues, including the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and a massive security breach.
The endless wave of negative headlines sparked fears of a possible user and advertiser exodus. But the report suggests these fears may have been overblown.
"With these results, Facebook has clearly demonstrated that the challenges of 2018 have not had a lasting impact on its ability to increase both revenues and usage," said Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer.
In a statement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook's team has "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."
Yet, the bad headlines continue into 2019. On the eve of the earnings release, Facebook was criticized for using a controversial market research app to collect information on how people use their smartphones.
Shares of Facebook ticked up as much as 7% in after hours trading Wednesday following the earnings result. Heading into the earnings report, Facebook stock was down by nearly a third from its high in July.
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. CNN contributed to this report.
