Facebook beats quarterly revenue estimates

Facebook Inc beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday, powered by increased ad spending by businesses to capitalize on a holiday shopping season driven online by the pandemic.

The results validate the company's foray into e-commerce with Instagram Shopping and Facebook Marketplace that banked on the trend of social shopping, which picked up pace last year as outdoor recreational activity dwindled due to COVID-19 associated curbs.

The company has launched a slew of new e-commerce products such as Facebook Pay and Facebook Shops that enable in-app purchases across the company's suite of apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

Monthly active users rose 12% to 2.80 billion, above the 2.75 billion expected by analysts.

Total revenue, which comprises primarily of advertising revenue, rose to $28.07 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $21.08 billion, a year earlier.

Analysts on average estimated quarterly revenue of $26.44 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income came in at $11.22 billion, or $3.88 per share, compared with $7.35 billion, or $2.56 per share, a year earlier.