Facebook reported a bigger profit leap than expected in its first-quarter report Wednesday as the company also planned a new class of stock to insulate CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s control there.
Adjusted profit soared 87 percent to $2.229 billion, while revenue jumped by half, underscoring demand for the company’s widening options for ads, including Facebook’s aggressive push in video seeking to win ad dollars away from television.
Shares climbed 8.5 percent to $118.14 in after-hours trading at 4:30 p.m. ET. The stock was up about 35 percent in the last year.
In a note separate from the results, Zuckerberg said the new stock structure was designed to keep Facebook a “founder-led company” — that is, one run by him — as he and his wife prepare to commit nearly all their shares to a philanthropic foundation they set up in after the birth of their daughter. The new class of shares won’t have voting rights.
The results from Facebook, the biggest social network in the world by users, are the first since its rollout of virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift, which Facebook began selling in January for $599. The report also hits two weeks after CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a 10-year plan for Facebook at the company’s annual developer’s conference. His outlook included plans to expand more into virtual and augmented reality and chatbots, which are programs that use artificial intelligence to undertake simple tasks.
The company has also been making an aggressive push into video, aiming to swipe away more of TV’s ad dollars. Facebook has also widened its ad options, such as letting brands and agencies stick more spots on its photo-sharing app Instagram.
“We had a great start to the year,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re focused on our 10 year roadmap to give everyone in the world the power to share anything they want with anyone.”
The company said Wednesday that the number of people who check Facebook at least once a month rose to 1.65 billion in the latest period, up from 1.59 billion three months earlier.
In the latest period ended March 31, Facebook reported a profit of $1.51 billion, or 52 cents a share, nearly tripling a profit of $512 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 52 percent to $5.382 billion.
Excluding unusual items, earnings were 77 cents a share.
Analysts on average were expecting 62 cents a share on $5.26 billion in revenue.