Tech

Despite its tumultuous year, Facebook is still growing in the US as advertisers keep spending more

Key Points
  • Facebook continued to grow its active users and revenue in the U.S. and Canada in its fourth quarter 2018 compared to the year prior.
  • Numerous privacy scandals throughout the year led to public outrage and calls to delete Facebook's platforms.
  • The strong domestic numbers indicate Facebook may have weathered the storm.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the F8 Facebook Developers conference on May 1, 2018 in San Jose, California.
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Facebook is still growing in the U.S. despite a number of privacy scandals that have inspired movements to delete the platform.

Facebook reported revenue growth of nearly 32 percent in the U.S. and Canada compared to last year, bringing in $8.43 billion in its fourth quarter 2018 compared to $6.39 billion during the same period in 2017.

Its number of users in the region increased only slightly, however, suggesting that Facebook continues to find upside in squeezing more ad revenue out of its existing user base.

Daily active users in the region grew less than 1 percent, from 184 million in Q4 2017 to 186 million in Q4 2018, and monthly active users had a similarly tiny jump from 239 million in Q4 2017 to 242 million during the final quarter of 2018.

Facebook saw similar trends in Europe, which is a similarly saturated market: revenue grew 27 percent, while monthly active users grew only 1 percent and daily active users were flat.

The numbers indicate that advertisers continue to find growing value despite Facebook's public relations crises and increasing government scrutiny in both regions, and may give investors a reason to believe the stock can regain even more value.

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Watch: Facebook beats expectations on top and bottom line

Facebook beats expectations on top and bottom line
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Facebook beats expectations on top and bottom line