facebook: Facebook quarterly revenue beats expectations

Facebook Inc beat market expectations for quarterly revenue on Wednesday, powered by higher ad spending by businesses during a pandemic-induced surge in online traffic.

Shares of Facebook rose 6.6 per cent in trading after the bell.

Total revenue, which primarily consists of ad sales, rose to $26.17 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, beating analysts’ average estimate of $23.67 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The world’s largest social media company said in its outlook that it expected second-quarter revenue growth to be stable or grow moderately, but warned that the third- and fourth-quarter growth rates could “significantly” decline when compared with past periods of increasingly strong growth.

It cited that a new pop-up privacy notification from Apple Inc could hurt the business during the second quarter.

Facebook’s monthly active users rose 10 per cent to 2.85 billion, matching analyst expectations.

Net income for the first quarter came in at $9.5 billion, or $3.30 per share, compared with $4.9 billion, or $1.71 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.37 per share.

The company said its total expenses for the year would be in the range of $70 million to $73 million, as it invests in consumer hardware products and infrastructure.