Facebook needs strong earnings to distract from its D.C. backlash
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Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have been on another wild ride.
The state of play: They've been dragged on television by opportunistic members of Congress and are fielding multiple antitrust inquiries, while attempting to push forward with the Libra digital currency. Libra is facing mounting resistance from regulators and legislators around the globe.
- Its latest quandary is a refusal to ban political ads that include false statements. Data shows a wide majority of users want all political ads off the platform.
Reality check: Despite all the bad publicity, the one thing Facebook has been able to do quarter after quarter is deliver solid earnings.
By the numbers: Analysts are expecting earnings of $1.90 per share and Q3 revenue of $17.3 billion, 26.3% higher than last year, when the company reports after the bell on Oct. 30.
- However, Facebook is on track to post earnings per share of $6.26 on revenue of $70.2 billion for the year, an annual EPS decline of 19.07%.
- It would be the first year of negative EPS growth since 2012, the year Facebook debuted on the Nasdaq.
Go deeper: Platforms give pols a free pass to lie
