Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta says its first-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by higher advertising revenue and a 6% increase on the average price of ads on its platforms. But its shares dropped sharply in after-hours trading following lukewarm revenue guidance. Meta Platforms Inc. earned $12.37 billion, or $4.71 per share, in the January-March period. That’s up from $5.71 billion, or $2.20 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 27% to $36.46 billion from $28.65 billion. According to FactSet, analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $4.32 per share on revenue of $36.14 billion.
