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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Facebook shares bounce back to pre-scandal level

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears on a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 10, 2018, as he testifies in the Senate in Washington. Shares in the social media giant are trading around $185 early Friday, May 11, returning to the levels last seen eight weeks ago, when news broke that the company failed to prevent major privacy breaches during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. (Richard Drew / Associated Press)
Associated Press

NEW YORK – While Facebook’s practices leading up to the 2017 election are still under scrutiny, Wall Street appears to have moved on for now.

Shares closed at $186.99 Friday, surpassing previous levels before it was revealed that the company failed to prevent major privacy breaches during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in the U.S.

Cambridge Analytica, whose clients included Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, sought information on Facebook users to build psychological profiles on a large portion of the U.S. electorate.

Shares plunged 13 percent on the revelation in March.

On Thursday, Democrats on the House intelligence committee released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency.

Despite the scandals, Facebook last month reported that first-quarter revenue, mostly from ads, soared 49 percent.