Amid Capitol Hill hearings and rising concerns over regulation, Facebook crushed expectations in Q3 - beating top- and bottom-line dramatically and better-than-expected user growth - sending the stock price higher after-hours to new record highs.
- 3Q revenue printed $10.33 billion, beating estimate of $9.84 billion (range $9.52 billion to $10.18 billion)
- 3Q EPS printed $1.59, smashing estimate of $1.28 (range $1.16 to $1.44)
- 3Q monthly active users (MAU) printed 2.07 billion - better than the estimated 2.04 billion.
- 3Q daily active users (DAU) printed 1.37 billion - better than the estimated 1.35 billion.
However, after FB shares jumped immediately, they quickly turned back lower...
If investors wonder why the shares aren't screaming more aggressively higher, perhaps it is this comment from CEO Mark Zuckerberg...
"We're investing so much in security that it will impact our profitability. Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits."
Additionally, Facebook reports:
Mobile advertising revenue – Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 88% of advertising revenue for the third quarter of 2017, up from approximately 84% of advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2016.
Capital expenditures – Capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2017 were $1.76 billion.
Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities – Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $38.29 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017.
Headcount – Headcount was 23,165 as of September 30, 2017, an increase of 47% year-over-year.
Average Revenue continues to rise...
But we note that Facebook's effective tax rate dropped to just 10% - the lowest on record...
As Bloomberg Intelligence's Jitendra Waral notes, Facebook hit it out of the park despite consistently warning of a 2H slowdown due to peaking ad loads. Instagram and video are likely driving the growth here. and the behemoth messaging platforms, WhatsApp and Messenger, have yet to show up in sales.
However, profitability concerns on higher spending to fight abuse and fake news is one unkown here for margins. Yet, the bigger concern would be if these steps hinder customer or advertiser onboarding and weigh on headline growth numbers next year.