Turns out Wall Street doesn’t care about Facebook’s data leak if it’s going to keep posting huge advertising revenue.
That’s what we learned on Thursday, with shares of the social network blitzing up 9.06 percent to $174.16 a share, one day after reporting a big Q1 earnings beat. Facebook pulled in nearly $12 billion in revenue during the first quarter — its 12th straight quarter beating revenue expectations — and a company-record $4.9 billion profit.
At the same time, Facebook assuaged some of the fears about a declining user base. A #DeleteFacebook movement gained steam on Twitter shortly after the Cambridge Analytica data leak, when it was revealed last month up to 87 million users had their information unknowingly accessed in 2014.
Celebs like Elon Musk and Will Ferrell axed their Facebook pages, but the scandal appears not to have impacted Facebook at least during the final days of the first quarter, with the company reporting it had gained 1 million daily active users in North America. This was a positive sign for investors, after the social network had lost 1 million domestic users for the first time in its history during the fourth quarter of 2017. Facebook reported 2.2 billion monthly active users — a 13 percent increase year-over-year.
Facebook still has a little bit further to go before reclaiming its pre-Cambridge Analytica standing on Wall Street, however: the company is about $10 a share below where it was in mid-March.