What happened Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) leaped 8.3% on Wednesday, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the results of U.S. elections would lessen the risk of regulation on the social media industry. So what Facebook has increasingly come under fire for a host of issues, including privacy concerns and its role in allowing hate speech and misinformation to spread across its network. Yet with the Republicans likely to maintain control of the Senate and Democrats likely to retain the House, the likelihood that antitrust regulators will bring a strong case against Facebook has been reduced. Facebook's stock rose sharply on the first day of trading after Election Day in the U.S. Image source: Getty Images. A less aggressive regulatory environment could also bring more advertisers back to Facebook's social media platforms. Many pulled back on their ad spending ahead of the U.S. elections. Now what With antitrust issues receding, investors can turn their attention to Facebook's solid operational performance and intriguing growth prospects. The digital ad titan saw its revenue and earnings per share rise by 22% and 28%, respectively, in the third quarter. Better still, much more growth lies ahead. Digital ad sales are projected to exceed $517 billion by 2023, up from $333 billion in 2019, according to eMarketer. 10 stocks we like better than FacebookWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Facebook wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2020 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source