Facebook shrugs off Cambridge Analytica scandal to beat market expectations in first quarter results

Facebook has beaten analyst expectation on revenue and profit in its first quarter results.

The social media colossus brushed past the Cambridge Analytica scandal to deliver revenue of nearly $12bn (£8.6bn), up 49 per cent on the same quarter last year and ahead of the analyst expectation of $11.42bn.

Earnings per share were $1.69 a share, beating analyst expectation of $1.35 a share.

Read more: Cambridge Analytica speaks out on data, Facebook and Brexit

The results were announced after the market closed tonight with shares rising three percent in after hours trading.

Daily active users were 1.45bn for March 2018, an increase of 13 per cent year-on-year while monthly active users stood at 2.2bn.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said:

“Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018. We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together.”

The results come in the wake of the scandal that followed the revelation that data firm Cambridge Analytica allegedly mined users’ information without their knowledge to build its electoral models.

Jim Cridlin, head of innovation at WPP’s Mindshare, said: “Fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal came late in the quarter so any impact likely wasn’t reflected in the earnings, but so far we haven’t see advertisers pulling back. I don’t think the Cambridge Analytica scandal will affect them that much.”