Investing.com - Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) reported on Thursday third quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts and revenue that topped expectations.
Facebook announced earnings per share of $2.71 on revenue of $21.47 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $1.89 on revenue of $19.75 billion.
Facebook shares are up 36% from the beginning of the year, still down 7.98% from its 52-week high of $304.65 set on August 26. They are outperforming the S&P 500, which is up 2.43% from the start of the year.
"We expect our fourth quarter 2020 year-over-year ad revenue growth rate to be higher than our reported third quarter 2020 rate, driven by continued strong advertiser demand during the holiday season," the company said in a statement.
Facebook shares gained 4.87% in after-hours trade following the report.
Daily active users rose to 1.82 billion, a 12% increase over last year Facebook also increased is employee base by 32%.
Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) also gathered more users during the last three months.
Facebook follows other major Technology sector earnings this month
Facebook's report follows an earnings beat by Microsoft on Tuesday, which reported EPS of $1.82 on revenue of $37.15 billion, compared to forecasts EPS of $1.54 on revenue of $35.76 billion.
Alphabet C had beat expectations on Thursday with third quarter EPS of $16.4 on revenue of $46.17 billion, compared to forecast for EPS of $11.3 on revenue of $42.76 billion.
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