Despite intense scrutiny over data privacy, Facebook earns record profits

Despite facing intense scrutiny over data privacy, Facebook stock rose 12 per cent after it logged a record revenue of $16.91 billion --- up from $12.97 billion in the year-ago period -- in the fourth quarter that ended December 31.

The social media giant now has 2.32 billion monthly active users (MAUs) globally -- an increase of 9 per cent (year-over-year) -- and 1.52 billion daily active users (DAUs), also an increase of 9 per cent, the company said in a statement late Wednesday.

"Our community and business continue to grow. 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," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.

Facebook reported $6.88 billion in net income which amounts to $2.38 a share -- up from $1.44 a share in the year-ago period. The full year revenue stood at $55.8 billion -- up from $40.6 billion in 2017.

Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 93 per cent of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018, up from approximately 89 per cent of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017.

"We estimate that around 2.7 billion people now use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger each month, and more than 2 billion people use at least one of our family of services every day on average," said the company that added 1 million daily users in Canada and the US.

Capital expenditures were $4.37 billion and $13.92 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2018, respectively.