Facebook Shares Trade Higher After Q1 Earnings Beat

Facebook Inc FB traded higher Wednesday afternoon following a first-quarter earnings beat

Facebook's adjusted earnings came in at $1.89 per share, which included $1.04 for $3 billion in legal expenses, compared to the $1.63 estimate analysts expected. Sales of $15.077 billion beat the $14.97-billion estimate.

The $3-billion charge is a contingency against a possible fine by the Federal Trade Commission.

Daily active users (DAUs) were 1.56 billion on average for March, an increase of 8 percent year-over-year and inline with estimates.

"In addition, we estimate that more than 2.1 billion people now use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger (our 'Family' of services) every day on average, and around 2.7 billion people use at least one of our Family of services each month," the company said.

Facebook's' stock closed Wednesday's session at $182.58 per share. The stock traded higher by 4.8 percent at $191.66 per share in the after-hours session.

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