New Delhi: Facebook on Thursday reported stronger than expected financial results for the first quarter with soaring ad revenue during the pandemic. The social media giant said it earned $9.5 billion in the January-March quarter, a pole vault of 94 per cent from $4.9 billion last year. The total revenue grew 48 per cent from $17.44 billion to $26.17 billion in the previous fiscal, backed by a surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic when consumers mostly shopped online.

The main driver of this growth was Facebook’s advertising business.

“We are pleased with the strength of our advertising revenue growth in the first quarter of 2021, which was driven by a 30 per cent year-over-year increase in the average price per ad and a 12 per cent increase in the number of ads delivered. We expect that advertising revenue growth will continue to be primarily driven by price during the rest of 2021,” said Facebook CFO David Wehner as the company reported first quarter results.

Wehner added that the company expects its year-over-year revenue growth rate for the period "to remain stable or modestly accelerate relative to the growth rate in the first quarter of 2021 as we lap slower growth related to the pandemic during the second quarter of 2020."

Facebook now has 2.85 billion monthly active users (MAUs), an increase of 10 per cent year-on-year. Concurrently, its daily active user base has reached 1.88 billion on average, an increase of eight per cent. The company currently employs 60,654 people, bolstering its workforce by 26 per cent year-over-year.

Looking ahead, the world’s largest social network will focus on expanding its e-commerce offerings to strengthen its ad business. "We will continue to invest aggressively to deliver new and meaningful experiences for years to come, including in newer areas like augmented and virtual reality, commerce, and the creator economy," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.