Meta reports surge in profit at end of 2023

The tech titan behind Facebook and Instagram said revenue climbed to $40.1 billion in the quarter as about 3.1 billion people used the social network monthly.

"We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow," Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said in an earnings release.

Meta shares jumped more than 12% to top $445 in after-market trades.

The earnings come as Facebook turns 20 years old and cofounder Zuckerberg is fresh from appearing before Congress.

Zuckerberg along with top executives from Discord, Snap, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) testified Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis."

During one round of heated questioning, Zuckerberg was made to stand up and apologize to the families of victims who had packed the committee room.

"I'm sorry for everything you have all been through," he said. "No one should go through the things that your families have suffered."

Zuckerberg told the lawmakers that "keeping young people safe online has been a challenge since the internet began and as criminals evolve their tactics, we have to evolve our defenses too."

Tech giants are confronting a torrent of political anger for not doing enough to thwart online dangers toward children, from sexual predators to teen suicide.

Founded 20 years ago as a simple hangout spot, Facebook has since become a battle-hardened behemoth that -- despite perceptions of losing its cache among younger internet users -- continues growing and growing.

A business model built on using people's personal data to offer attention-grabbing content and targeted ads has earned Facebook complaints and fines.

Facebook changed its parent company name to "Meta" in late 2021, due to Zuckerberg's vision of immersive, virtual worlds referred to as the "metaverse" being the next major computing platform.

"We've made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI (artificial intelligence) and the metaverse," Zuckerberg said in the earnings release.