Facebook Quarterly Profit Soars 79 Percent

Facebook Inc faced harsh criticism in Washington on Wednesday over its failure to prevent Russian operatives from using its platform for election meddling, but the earnings report it issued hours later showed just how insulated its business remains from political risk.

According to Reuters, the social network said its quarterly profit soared 79 percent and revenues were up nearly 50 percent in the third quarter as marketers poured money into Facebook's advertising offerings, whose power to target and influence users has actually been showcased by the election scandal.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg condemned Russia’s attempts to influence last year’s election through Facebook posts and advertisements designed to sow division, and repeated his pledge to ramp up spending to confront the problem.

The company’s share price, which hit a record $182.90 earlier on Wednesday, initially rose in after-hours trading, but later fell into negative territory on discussion of the higher spending. Shares have gained almost 60 percent this year.

“While the investigations into Russian activity on the platform have been getting a lot of attention, they’re not detracting from Facebook’s power as an ad platform,” analyst Debra Aho Williamson of research firm eMarketer said in an interview.

The political storm in the United States over how Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc’s Google handle false news stories and political manipulation of their services gathered strength this week as three separate congressional committees held hearings.

Facebook’s total advertising revenue rose 49 percent in the third quarter to $10.14 billion, about 88 percent of which came from mobile ads.

“Video is exploding, and mobile video advertising is a big opportunity,” Sandberg said.

More than 70 percent of ad breaks up to 15 seconds long were viewed to completion, most with the sound on, she said.