• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechBusinessperson of the Year

Facebook Grew by the Near Equivalent of Twitter’s User Base in 1 Year

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 1, 2017, 4:20 PM ET

Facebook shares rose more than 2% in after-hours trading on Wednesday as the world’s largest online social network reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, helped by continued growth in mobile advertising.

The results offered some reassurance to investors who have been concerned since the company warned in November that ad growth would likely slow “meaningfully” due to limits on ad load—the total number of ads Facebook can show to each user.

Facebook has faced doubts about whether it can continue its runaway success in the face of such limits, as well as its absence from the Chinese market and criticism about its handling of so-called “fake news” posts during last year’s U.S. election.

The company suffered a slight setback just before the market close when a jury in Texas ordered Facebook, its virtual reality unit Oculus, and other defendants to pay a combined $500 million to ZeniMax Media, a video game publisher that says Oculus stole its technology.

Facebook shares (FB) were up 2.4% at $136.44 after the bell on Wednesday.

Mobile ad revenue accounted for 84% of the company’s total advertising revenue of $8.63 billion in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with 80% a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected total ad revenue of $8.31 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

The company inched closer to reaching 2 billion users, saying that about 1.86 billion people were using its service monthly as of Dec. 31, up 17% from a year earlier.

Mobile daily active users rose 23% to 1.15 billion, the company said. About 90% of Facebook’s users access the network through mobile devices.

However, many analysts have raised concerns about Facebook’s ability to meet its own targets it sets every quarter.

“I think the rate of growth will decline, but it will remain very high,” said analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities. “They grew 57% in 2016, and our current model has ‘only’ 38% revenue growth in 2017. That’s still pretty impressive.”

Pachter said he expects Facebook to appeal Wednesday’s jury verdict in Texas, but that the result would not affect the share price even if the company loses. “Even if Facebook has to pay $300 million, it’s less than $0.10 per share and they have $29.5 billion in cash,” he said.

Apart from the core Facebook network, which contributes the lion’s share to overall revenue, the company’s photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp also have huge user bases.

Facebook has been adding features to attract more users and retain those already on the network, with a feature to tackle fake news posts being the most recent addition, after the criticism that followed the U.S. election on Nov. 8.

Related: Facebook Tries to Determine What an Authentic News Story Looks Like

Facebook is expected to generate about $29.71 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2017, according to research firm eMarketer, up about 35.2% from 2016.

Net income attributable to Facebook shareholders rose to $3.56 billion, or $1.21 per share, from $1.56 billion, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.41 per share.

Total revenue rose to $8.81 billion from $5.84 billion.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.31 per share on revenue of $8.51 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
'I meant what I said in Davos': Carney says he really is planning a Canada split with the U.S. along with 12 new trade deals
By Rob Gillies and The Associated PressJanuary 28, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
The American taxpayer spent nearly half a billion dollars deploying federal troops to U.S. cities in 2025, CBO finds
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 28, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
Jeff Bezos capped his Amazon salary at $80,000: ‘How could I possibly need more incentive?’
By Sydney LakeJanuary 28, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
Fortune 500 CEOs are no longer giving employees an A for effort. Now they want proof of impact
By Claire ZillmanJanuary 28, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Jerome Powell got a direct question about the U.S. ‘losing credibility’ and the soaring price of gold and silver. He punted
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 29, 2026
19 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Thursday, January 29, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 29, 2026
19 hours ago

Latest in Tech

A man works on two computers while a coworker looks on in the background.
AIGen Z
Gen Z believes using AI is making their colleagues dumb and lazy, but may paradoxically see it as key to their own promotion, Wharton says
By Sasha RogelbergJanuary 30, 2026
28 minutes ago
Big TechApple
Apple’s blowout Q1 results were a reminder of what makes the company so impressive—and why it’s floundering in AI
By Alexei OreskovicJanuary 29, 2026
7 hours ago
C-SuiteFortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry
Pfizer CEO says he used ‘emotional blackmail’ to get employees to achieve impossible goals during COVID-19
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 29, 2026
8 hours ago
ICE
CybersecurityMilitary
Only 4 democracies have created paramilitary police squads since 1960—if you include ICE
By Erica De Bruin and The ConversationJanuary 29, 2026
11 hours ago
Claude 4 illustration
AIAnthropic
Top engineers at Anthropic, OpenAI say AI now writes 100% of their code—with big implications for the future of software development jobs
By Beatrice NolanJanuary 29, 2026
13 hours ago
TikTok influencer Khaby Lame sits and talks.
AISocial Media
Getting deported by Trump can’t stop top influencer Khaby Lame from notching a $975 million deal—including the rights to his AI avatar
By Jake AngeloJanuary 29, 2026
14 hours ago