New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- Meta's fourth-quarter results jumped past Wall Street's expectations thanks to solid advertising revenue, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading Wednesday.

The company earned $22.77 billion, or $8.88 per share, in the October-December quarter. That's up 9% from $20.84 billion, or $8.02 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue grew 24% to $59.89 billion from $48.39 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $8.21 per share on revenue of $58.5 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

"Once again, Meta surpassed analysts' earnings expectations for the quarter, cementing its position as one of the world's most dominant media companies," said Debra Aho Williamson, chief analyst...