Today Facebook reported its second quarter financial results, including revenues of $1.18 billion, and earnings per share of $0.12. Analysts had expected revenues of $1.15 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.12. Ad revenue was expected to be $921 million. For the quarter, the company reported ad revenue of $922 million, beating that expectation by a hair.
The company met expectations, essentially matching estimates. A blow out, or up, this is not.
In the day’s trading, Facebook’s stock was down sharply, off over 8%. In after hours trading, following this report, the company initially rose, but has now fallen below its closing price. The company’s financial results come just a day after Zynga, another Internet company, released a stunningly bad earnings report. That company’s stock is off 40% today.
Facebook reported that it now has 955 million active users, 543 million mobile users, and 552 million daily active users. That final figure is up 32% when compared to a year ago.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Also up at Facebook are its capital expenditures, which cost the firm some $413 million during the three-month period. That’s up a stunning 213% year over year.
Share-based compensation expenses hammered the company’s earnings. From its release:
For the second quarter, GAAP loss from operations was $743 million, compared to income from operations of $407 million for the second quarter of 2011. Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP income from operations for the second quarter was $515 million, compared to $477 million for the second quarter of 2011.”
At the conclusion of the quarter, Facebook’s cash position rose over the $10 billion mark. Some $6.8 billion of that came from the firm’s IPO.
Finally, in its release Facebook has a push back statement against reports that its advertising platform is ineffective:
Facebook now has independent ROI data from more than 60 advertising campaigns using a variety of third-party methodologies like panels and marketing mix models. The results show that 70% of campaigns resulted in a return on ad spend of 3x or better, and 49% of campaigns showed a return on ad spend of 5x or better.
In after hours trading, Facebook has hit a new record low, trading near to the $25 mark.
Top Image Credit: Jason McELweenie
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.