Facebook shares jump 9% to record levels after earnings exceed $ 5 billion

Facebook Inc. FB,
+ 7.49%
Shares soared more than 7% to new highs on Friday morning after a earnings report that showed the social media company raised more than $ 5 billion in earnings despite a global pandemic and a selective advertising boycott. . Facebook shares opened at $ 255.82, 9.1% more than Thursday’s closing price, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $ 730 billion. Top advertisers have pledged to boycott Facebook in July to protest its inability to avoid hate, violence and misinformation posts on its platform, but the company said Thursday afternoon that it does not expect much financial change as a result. “We expect our Q3 quarterly ad revenue growth rate to be similar to this” quarter reported on Thursday, Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said in a conference call. Facebook shares have gained more than 23% this year, as the S&P 500 SPX index,
-0.41%
added 0.5%.