Data breach case fails to dent Facebook, Q1 revenues up at a record $11.97 bn

Facebook has reported revenues of $11.97 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to $8.03 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The social media giant’s earnings from advertising in Q1 stood at $11.79 billion, while payments and other fees constituted $171 million. 

Commenting on the results, Mark Zuckerberg , Founder and CEO, Facebook, in a release issued said, “Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018. We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together.” 

Facebook has been in the eye of the storm over privacy concerns following the data breach involving Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy firm. 

However, these concerns do not reflect in Facebook’s earnings for the first quarter. Facebook’s mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91 per cent of advertising revenue for Q1 of 2018, up from approximately 85 per cent of the advertising revenue in Q1 of 2017. 

Daily Active Users (DAUs) reported were 1.45 billion on average for March 2018, an increase of 13 per cent year-over-year. Meanwhile, Monthly Active Wsers (MAUs) stood at 2.20 billion as of March 31, 2018 , an increase of 13 per cent year-over-year. 

Headcount was 27,742 as of March 31, 2018, an increase of 48 per cent year-over-year. 

In April 2018, Facebook increased the amount authorized under its share repurchase programme by an additional $9.0 billion. The Board of Directors originally authorised repurchases of up to $6.0 billion of the Class A common stock under the repurchase programme, and this increase is incremental to the original authorisation. 

Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2018 were $2.81 billion. Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $43.96 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

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