David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook
Shares of Facebook popped Wednesday after a mixed third-quarter report and a candid earnings call with traditionally tight-lipped executives.
The stock gained as much as 6.9 percent in morning trading, before easing off slightly. The stock gained 3.8 percent by the end of trading to close at $151.79.
Wednesday’s jump adds to Tuesday’s nearly 3 percent bump and erases most of the stock’s losses from last week’s tech rout, when Facebook shed 5.6 percent.
Facebook on Tuesday reported growing revenue, but missed expectations. The company also posted slowing user numbers. The social media site has been losing European users, amid stricter privacy restrictions, and hemorrhaging teenage users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered a rare insight into the company’s strategy moving forward during the earnings call Tuesday.
Zuckerberg cautioned that 2019 would be an investment year for Facebook, as it continues to fight calculated misinformation campaigns and prevent security breaches. He also highlighted video, messaging and the ephemeral Stories feature as particular focuses.
Wednesday’s surge leaves Facebook 7 percent lower for October — a relative success compared with fellow FAANG stocks Amazon and Netflix, which both lost 20 percent this month amid overall market turmoil.
Facebook’s stock is still far from its 52-week high, though, trading 30 percent lower than its peak of $218.62 — reached in late July just before the stock cratered roughly 20 percent in a single day after reporting second-quarter earnings.
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