Facebook stock rises on earnings beat

Facebook stock was up nearly 4% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the tech giant reported that it beat Wall Street expectations on earnings per share and revenue.

Why it matters: The company has been warning for several quarters that ad growth (where nearly all of its revenue comes from) is expected to slow late this year due to saturation in its main News Feed. As a result, Facebook has been investing more in monetizing its "Stories" feature on both its main app and Instagram.

Be smart: The company has faced increased competition from other tech giants for ad revenue and engagement. Amazon has notably begun to eat into its ad market share slightly. TikTok has also started to steal attention from younger users.

By the numbers via CNBC:

• Earnings: $2.12 vs. $1.91 per share forecast by Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $17.65 billion vs. $17.37 billion forecast by Refinitiv.
• Daily active users: 1.62 billion vs. 1.61 billion forecast by FactSet.
• Monthly active users: 2.45 billion vs. 2.45 billion forecast by FactSet.
• Average revenue per user: $7.26 vs. $7.09 forecast by FactSet.

Between the lines: Facebook has faced criticism over the past few weeks after saying it would not fact-check ads from political candidates or politicians. Facebook rival Twitter announced at the same time Facebook released its earnings report that it would no longer accept any political or advocacy ads globally.