Facebook reports fastest revenue growth rate in years

Facebook reported its best quarter two revenue growth rate in over five years on Wednesday.

Yes, but: It's stock plummeted in after-hours trading on weak guidance for the remainder of the year.

• "In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we expect year-over-year total revenue growth rates to decelerate significantly on a sequential basis as we lap periods of increasingly strong growth," the company said in a statement.
• The tech giant also said that the impact on its business from changes to Apple's privacy policies will likely become more material in the back half of the year.

Details: In addition to beating Wall Street expectations on revenue, Facebook also reported strong earnings and user growth in line with investor expectations.

• The company reported profits of over $10 billion, doubling its profit margin from the same quarter last year and crushing analyst expectations.
• Facebook says it now has 1.91 billion daily active users and 2.9 billion monthly active users for its main Facebook app. It says it has 3.51 billion monthly active users across all of its apps.

The big picture: Despite record regulatory scrutiny, Big Tech firms like Facebook and its rivals Google and Amazon continue to grow, thanks to their incredible dominance in digital advertising.

By the numbers, per Facebook:

• "Facebook daily active users (DAUs) – DAUs were 1.91 billion on average for June 2021, an increase of 7% year-over-year."
• "Facebook monthly active users (MAUs) – MAUs were 2.90 billion as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 7% year-over-year."

• "Family daily active people (DAP) – DAP was 2.76 billion on average for June 2021, an increase of 12% year-over-year."
• "Family monthly active people (MAP) – MAP was 3.51 billion as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 12% year-over-year."
• "Capital expenditures – Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $4.74 billion for the second quarter of 2021."
• "Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities – Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $64.08 billion as of June 30, 2021."
• "Headcount – Headcount was 63,404 as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 21% year-over-year."

Go deeper ... Facebook's earnings over the past year:

• Facebook's Q1 2021 earnings
• Facebook's Q4 2020 earnings
• Facebook's Q3 2020 earnings
• Facebook Q2 2020 earnings