Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) put a strong third quarter performance down to an increasing reliance on its services to stay connected and create economic opportunity in difficult times, as revenue and profit both climbed.

It posted a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to $21.5 billion, driven by advertising which totalled $21.2 billion, though revenue from its “Other” segment fell 7 per cent to $249 billion .

Net income surged 29 per cent to $7.8 billion.

In a statement, Zuckerberg said the company continued “to make significant investments in our products and hiring in order to deliver new and meaningful experiences”.

The social media giant said average daily active users hit 1.82 billion in September, a 12 per cent increase, while monthly active users increased by the same amount to 2.74 billion.

In Q4, the company expects annual advertising revenue growth to be higher, driven by continued strong spending during the holiday season, with increased demand for its Oculus Quest 2 tipped to boost revenue from its Other segment.

2021 headwinds
Facebook said it expects “a significant amount of uncertainty” in 2021, noting the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic had contributed to the shift of commerce from offline to online, which could result in increased demand for advertising.

“Considering that online commerce is our largest ad vertical, a change in this trend could serve as a headwind to our 2021 ad revenue growth,” said the company.

It also expects headwinds from an evolving regulatory landscape.