San Francisco, Apr 27 (AP) Facebook parent company Meta's first-quarter results surpassed Wall Street's modest expectations on both profit and revenue, sending its stock soaring in after-hours trading.

Meta also reported that the monthly user base of its flagship platform — Facebook — inched close to 3 billion.

Also Read | India-Russia Turnover Was About USD 2 Billion in 2022, Says Moscow Deputy Governor Ekaterina Zinoveva.

Meta Platforms Inc. said Wednesday it earned $5.71 billion, or $2.20 per share, in the January-March period. That's down 19% from $7.47 billion, or $2.72 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue climbed 3% to $28.65 billion from $27.91 billion.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh Naxal Attack: German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann Condemns Attack on Security Personnel in Dantewada, Says 'Deeply Saddened'.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.02 per share on revenue of $27.67 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

Meta said it has “substantially completed” layoffs it first announced in 2022. It announced a second round of layoffs in March.

Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company rose $18.97, or 9.1%, to $228.37 in after-hours trading. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)