Facebook Posts Sales Jump on Ad Revival, Sees ‘Uncertainty’
- July boycott failed to make a dent in third-quarter results
- Pandemic, regulatory probes are among the challenges ahead
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Facebook Inc. posted a better-than-projected gain in third-quarter revenue, indicating that a major advertiser boycott had a limited impact against the backdrop of a broader revival of spending on digital marketing.
The Menlo Park, California-based company said sales rose 22% to $21.5 billion, compared with the $19.8 billion average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey. While Facebook reached 2.74 billion monthly active users in the quarter, exceeding predictions, it saw an unusual decline in users in the U.S. and Canada, its most lucrative ad markets, as a pandemic-fueled surge from earlier this year leveled off.