Russian Ads Overshadow Facebook's Otherwise Fabulous Quarter

After last quarter's blowout performance, Facebook, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: FB) third-quarter financial release came against the backdrop of company executives' testimony in Congressional hearings about Russian-bought political ads during the U.S. election. The controversy didn't seem to have any impact on current results, but the company announced plans to increase its safety and security spending to address this and other issues, which will affect coming quarters.

For the just completed quarter, Facebook produced revenue of $10.33 billion, a 47% year-over-year increase, and exceeding analysts' consensus estimates of $9.8 billion. This was the first time the company exceeded $10 billion in revenue in a quarter. Net income grew a whopping 79% over the prior-year quarter, producing diluted earnings per share of $1.59, up 77% year over year and eclipsing the $1.28 analysts expected.

Mobile advertising revenue grew to $8.9 billion, up 57% year over year, and now represents 88% of the total, up from 84% in the prior-year period. The average price per ad was up 35%, while ad impressions grew 10% over the prior-year quarter. Average revenue per user worldwide grew to $5.07, up 26% over the same quarter last year.

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Source: Fool.com