FACEBOOK POSTS SLOWEST QUARTERLY REVENUE GROWTH IN MORE THAN SIX YEARS.
Still stands at slightest quarter in six-plus years
SAN FRANCISCO • Facebook Inc. on Wednesday reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in more than six years as a public company but easily beat Wall Street’s profit estimates, soothing investor concerns that rising costs would blunt growth.
Shares of the world’s biggest online social network rose nearly nine per cent to US$163.30 after the bell. They closed up 4.3 per cent in regular trading.
Net income rose to US$6.88 billion, or US$2.38 per share, in the fourth quarter, up from US$4.27 billion, or US$1.44 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected earnings of US$2.19 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total fourth-quarter revenue rose 30 per cent to US$16.9 billion from US$12.97 billion, compared to analysts’ average estimate of US$16.4 billion.
“The worst is over for this social media giant,” said Haris Anwar, an analyst at Investing.com: “Its ad business and user engagement haven’t been affected despite all the negative blows of the past year.”
Facebook has pledged to focus on the privacy and security of the world’s largest social network after a series of scandals over improperly shared user data and propaganda hurt its image and made it the target of political scrutiny across the globe.
The company’s shares have lost a third of their value since July, when it first warned about slowing growth in revenue and operating margin. The share price remains near its lowest point in two years.
“We’ve fundamentally changed how we run our company to focus on the biggest social issues, and we’re investing more to build new and inspiring ways for people to connect,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Previously, Facebook’s weakest quarterly sales growth as a publicly traded company, 32.2 per cent, came in each of its first two reporting quarters in 2012.
Total expenses in the fourth quarter surged to US$9.1 billion, up 62 per cent compared with a year ago. The operating margin fell to 46 per cent in the fourth quarter from 57 per cent a year ago.
Despite its privacy issues, Facebook managed to gain some new users, particularly in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Facebook said more than 2.7 billion users interact with at least one of its apps each month, up from 2.6 billion last quarter.
Monthly and daily users of the main Facebook app compared to last quarter were up 2.2 per cent to 2.32 billion and 2.0 per cent 1.52 billion, respectively.
Estimates were for 2.3 billion monthly users and 1.5 billion daily users, according to Refinitiv averages.
Facebook shares continue to trade at a discount to peers. Shares entering Wednesday of No. 1 online ad seller
Alphabet Inc., for instance, were priced at 22.4 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, compared to 19.3 times for Facebook.