Facebook Soars After Blowing Past Q2 Earnings Expectations

Social network’s stock is up more than 8 percent in after-hours trading after a massive quarterly earnings beat

Facebook
TheWrap

Facebook once again reported blowout earnings that sent its stock soaring more than 8 percent in after-hours trading.

After markets closed Wednesday, Facebook reported revenue of $6.4 billion and earnings of 97 cents a share. That easily beat its performance for the same period last year, when Facebook brought in slightly more than $4 billion in revenue and had earnings of 50 cents a share. It also exceeded analyst estimates of $6 billion in revenue and earnings of 82 cents a share.

Facebook registered a nearly 50 percent jump in revenue year-over-year, which compares favorably with Twitter’s 20 percent revenue growth rate. Its total daily active users rose 17 percent year-over-year to 1.17 billion, and mobile daily active users continued its even more rapid rise, with a year-over-year jump of 22 percent to 1.03 billion. Investors’ optimism — Facebook’s stock hit an all-time high Wednesday before earnings were announced — was rewarded.

For millions around the world, Facebook has become the phone book, newspaper and photo album — and is now trying to compete with TV as the place to go for live broadcasts. It has paid upwards of $50 million to celebrities and media companies, and Facebook management is expected to update investors on live video during its 5 p.m. ET conference call to discuss earnings.

“Our community and business had another good quarter,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the earnings release. “We’re particularly pleased with our progress in video as we move towards a world where video is at the heart of all our services.”

And as Facebook is yet another battlefield on which the presidential election is being contested, it looks to become a likely target for a political ad windfall, as well. As of May, Facebook’s Audience Network has allowed brands to advertise on non-Facebook properties including other websites and mobile apps.

Comments