Facebook parent Meta posts sharply higher profit in 3Q thanks to increase in ad revenue

Facebook parent Meta has posted sharply higher earnings for the third quarter, boosted by an increase in advertising revenue and lower expenses after it laid off thousands of workers. The company based in Menlo Park, California, said Wednesday that it earned $11.58 billion in the July-September quarter. That’s up from $4.4 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 23% to $34.15 billion. Meta said the number of active users on Facebook was 3.05 billion as of Sept. 30, an increase of 3% from a year earlier. The company was sued by 41 states plus the the District of Columbia on Tuesday for harming young people’s mental health.