Despite all the backlash it’s faced this year over user privacy concerns as well as its controversial advertising rules, Facebook beat analysts’ expectations nearly across the board today when it reported its third-quarter earnings for 2019.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken quite a beating lately, both in the news and from certain members of Congress. And in an almost impossibly shy nod to the challenges his apps and website face, Zuckerberg said today (emphasis ours): “We had a good quarter and our community and business continue to grow. We are focused on making progress on major social issues and building new experiences that improve people’s lives around the world.”
Well, whatever that means, investors are apparently happy to play along. The company’s stock price, overall, has been on the rise this October, and in after-hours trading on Wednesday, Facebook’s stock rose by more than 2% after trading slightly down earlier in the day.
Here are the highlights from the third-quarter 2019 report:
- Revenue: $17.65 billion (analysts expected $17.37 billion)
- Earnings: $2.12 per share (also beating expectations, of $1.91 per share)
- Daily active users: 1.62 billion (just beating analysts’ expectations)
- Monthly active users: 2.45 billion (in line with expectations)
- Average revenue per user: $7.26 (analysts expected $7.09)
While there appears to be no fiscal drama for Facebook this time around, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter is banning political ads just as Facebook released its financial report today. “We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,” said Dorsey.
That’s some hot tea brewing! Perhaps the move will nudge Facebook’s hand, toward either a better defense of its policies or even, dare I say it, change.
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