(Adds comments from analyst Pachter, background)
Feb 1 (Reuters) – Facebook Inc shares rose more than 2 percent 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 Inc, a video game publisher that says Oculus stole its technology.
Facebook shares were up 2.4 percent at $136.44 after the bell on Wednesday.
Mobile ad revenue accounted for 84 percent of the company’s total advertising revenue of $8.63 billion in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with 80 percent a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected total ad revenue of $8.
