Facebook: mixed results and change of course for the next quarter

On Monday, Facebook released its third-quarter financial results. While the context is quite unfavorable for the social media giant, between the blackout that took place on October 4 and the accusations of the whistleblower Frances Haugen, they are mixed.

Still, the social media giant is blaming Apple’s changes to iOS 14. And it expects mild results for the next quarter, adding that it expects its investments in the “metaverse” to reduce operating profit. $ 10 billion in fiscal 2021, when the company begins to make Facebook Reality Labs its own line of business.

Period of uncertainty

Facebook is forecasting revenue of between $ 31.5 billion and $ 34 billion for the fourth quarter, in line with analysts’ forecasts, which estimate $ 34.89 billion.

“Our outlook reflects some uncertainty for the fourth quarter, between Apple’s changes to iOS 14 [et ultérieur, NDLR], macroeconomic factors and the Covid pandemic ”, explains Facebook CFO Dave Wehner. “Additionally, non-ad revenue is expected to be lower than last year, as there will not be a launch as strong as Quest 2, during the final holiday season. “

Facebook is already suffering, to some extent, from the innovations made by Apple to its mobile operating system, since the launch of iOS 14.5 last April. Since its launch, the social media giant has criticized the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which requires the developers of an app to ask the user for permission to track their activity on other apps and websites on an iPhone or iPad.

Results above, in line with forecasts

For the third quarter, Facebook reported revenue of $ 29 billion, in line with analyst expectations, up 35% from last year and a net profit of $ 9.19 billion.

Image: Facebook.

“We made good progress this quarter and our community continues to grow,” said Mark Zuckerberg, the group’s chief executive, in a statement. “I’m excited about our roadmap, especially around creators, trade, and help with building the metaverse. “

Advertising revenue for the quarter was $ 28.28 billion, up 33%. “Other” revenues totaled $ 734 million, 195% more.

Facebook becomes virtual reality

Facebook had 1.93 billion daily active users during the month of September 2021, on average, a 6% increase in one year. The same increase for monthly active users, to 2.91 billion in September.

If we group together all Facebook products, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, the number of daily users increases to 2.81 billion in September, on average, an increase of 11% in one year. On a monthly basis, the year-over-year increase is 12%, to 3.58 billion monthly active users.

In the next quarter, Facebook will now present its results in two different segments: on the one hand, applications (in particular, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and other services); on the other, Facebook Reality Labs, or FRL (hardware, software and content related to augmented and virtual reality).

“As we discussed, we are dedicating significant resources to our augmented and virtual reality products and services, which are an important part of our work to develop the next generation of online social experiences,” said Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner, in a statement. “We expect our investment in Facebook Reality Labs to reduce our overall operating profit in 2021 by approximately $ 10 billion. We are committed to realizing this long-term vision and plan to increase our investments in the years to come. “

Source: .com