Facebook, the social media giant, topped market expectations for Q1 revenue on Wednesday, primarily fueled by higher ad spending by businesses during the coronavirus pandemic to push the online traffic. In the company’s best first quarter, shares of Facebook rose 6.6% in trading after the bell. Total revenue, which primarily consists of ad sales, rose to $26.17 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, beating analysts’ average estimate of $23.67 billion, news agency Reuters reported, quoting IBES data from Refinitiv.

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The monthly active users of social giant Facebook rose to 2.85 billion.

Net income for the fourth quarter came in at $9.5 billion, or $3.30 per share, compared with $4.9 billion, or $1.71 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.37 per share. 

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to Yahoo Money, said: “We had a strong quarter as we helped people stay connected and businesses grow. We will continue to invest aggressively to deliver new and meaningful experiences for years to come, including in newer areas like augmented and virtual reality, commerce, and the creator economy.”

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Facebook was founded in 2004 by a group of Harvard College classmates, which included Mark  Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. The social media giant today is the fifth-largest company in the country by market cap, worth a staggering $862 billion.