Facebook sees signs of stability in ad spending

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday, and said it has seen signs of stability in ad spending during the first three weeks of April.

Shares of the company, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, were up 9% in extended trading.

Advertisers have pulled or cut marketing budgets to rein in costs because of virus-related uncertainty, including many of the small businesses and direct-to consumer brands that advertise heavily on Facebook.

Facebook said advertising revenue in first three weeks of April was about flat compared to the same period a year ago.

Ad sales rose 17% to $17.44 billion in the first quarter, above analysts’ average estimate of $17.36 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Facebook said more than 2.99 billion users interact with at least one of its apps each month, up from 2.89 billion last quarter.

Total revenue rose to $17.74 billion from $15.08 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, beating the average analyst estimate of $17.44 billion.

(Reporting by Katie Paul in San Francisco and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)