Financial News

Facebook shares hit all-time high despite data breach fallout

By Thomas Barrabi

Facebook’s stock was trading at an all-time high on Monday as the social media giant shakes off lingering public and regulatory concerns in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach last March.


Shares rose more than 1% to $198.39 as of early Monday afternoon. If Facebook stock closes above $196.81, the social media company will have earned its ninth record close of 2018.

Facebook’s stock has risen more than 20% since its low point in late March, when multiple news outlets reported that the British data firm had improperly accessed the private data of up to 87 million Facebook users. The revelation triggered a brief public backlash, as some prominent users opted to delete the app and several advertisers temporarily halted funding.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress about the company data practices in April and vowed to address concerns about data privacy. The company overhauled some of its internal practices and revamped its internal audit committee this month.

While some Wall Street analysts suggested that Facebook could take a permanent hit to its user and advertising bases after the scandal, the company reported in April that its number of daily active users in North America rose slightly to 185 million in its most recent fiscal quarter. Overall, global monthly active users rose 13%, year over year, to 2.2 billion.