Facebook Shares Rocket to All-Time High After Strong Q2 Report
Social network now has market cap of more than half a trillion dollars
Sean Burch | July 27, 2017 @ 8:49 AM
Last Updated: July 27, 2017 @ 9:05 AM
Facebook shareholders are smiling wide this morning, as the preeminent social media company on the planet surged to an all-time high of $174.70 following its latest strong quarterly report on Wednesday.
FB shares jumped more than 5 percent in early morning trading, buoyed by the Palo Alto-based company continuing to rake in cash — $9.3 billion in Q2 revenue — and add users to its platform, as well as its satellite apps. Facebook pushed to a staggering 2.01 billion monthly users last quarter — more than half of the world’s internet population — and WhatsApp, its popular messaging app — now has more than 1 billion daily users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg characterized his company’s performance as a “good second quarter,” with Facebook narrowly edging past analyst estimates of $9.2 billion in revenue. On its Q2 conference call, a Facebook executive said the company will be hiring more workers in the second half of 2017, but also forecasted a cut in projected spending — music to investors’ ears.
The stock bump on Thursday pushed Facebook’s market cap to $505 billion.
One key takeaway highlighted Facebook’s ongoing dominance, despite the modest beat on estimates: It has $35.5 billion in cash — more than Twitter and Snap’s combined market cap.
Facebook continues to gobble up online ad revenue, and it’s finding new places to do it. It’s just started to roll out ads within Messenger, its instant messaging service, and it’ll soon debut its slate of original content-- giving it another space to draw eyeballs for advertisers.
6 Craziest Bets Facebook Is Making for the Next Decade (Photos)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a 10-year road map for the world's biggest social network, including projects in virtual reality and artificial intelligence, at its annual developers' conference F8 in San Francisco.
Facebook
Zuckerberg said he believes virtual reality headsets will be no different than traditional pairs of glasses in 10 years.
Screenshot/Facebook's F8 Live Stream
The company released a reference design for a camera shaped like a U.F.O. that can capture 360-degree video.
Facebook
Facebook Messenger is about to get an army of bots. Chatbots, which are programs powered by artificial intelligence that do simple things, are going to integrate into Facebook's instant messaging system. It makes it easier for companies like CNN to send you personalized stories and other tasks.
Facebook
Facebook is obsessed with live video, and it wants you to be able to stream live from any device -- even a drone. To mark a move opening up the programming to Facebook live streaming, Zuckerberg flew a drone out on stage that filmed everybody in the packed conference hall.
Screenshot/Facebook F8 Live Stream
Zuckerberg kicked off the conference by making a veiled jab at Donald Trump. “I hear fearful voices calling for building walls ... Instead of building walls, we can help build bridges," he said, as he explained that connecting the world is key to Facebook's future. (Maybe Trump won't notice: His preferred social network is Twitter, after all.)
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CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes you’ll watch VR on your regular old Warby Parker glasses in 10 years, see the other big announcements Facebook made at its annual F8 conference
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a 10-year road map for the world's biggest social network, including projects in virtual reality and artificial intelligence, at its annual developers' conference F8 in San Francisco.