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Facebook beats earnings, reports new FTC antitrust probe

Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

Facebook's stock was up nearly 4% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company beat investor expectations for earnings, user growth and revenue.

Yes, but: The positive earnings were accompanied by several pieces of bad news.

  • Facebook announced that the Federal Trade Commission told it in June that the agency had opened an antitrust investigation into the company. 
  • It also will set aside $2 billion, on top of $3 billion set aside last quarter, to pay a historic $5 billion fine that the FTC officially levied on the company today.

By the numbers, via CNBC:

  • Earnings: $1.99 cents per share vs. $1.88 per share, forecast by Refinitiv
  • Revenue: $16.9 billion, vs. $16.5 billion, forecast by Refinitiv
  • Daily active users: 1.59 billion, vs. 1.59 billion forecast by FactSet
  • Monthly active users: 2.41 billion, vs. 2.41 billion forecast by FactSet
  • Average revenue per user: $7.05 vs. $6.87 forecast by FactSet

The big picture: Facebook reported earnings just hours after the company announced it had settled a $5 billion fine with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that it "repeatedly used deceptive disclosures and settings to undermine users’ privacy preferences."

  • The company had previously written down the minimum amount expected from the fine — $3 billion — and will write down the rest of the fine during this quarter's financial period.
  • Facebook also said that as of today, it had settled an ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for $100 million.

Between the lines: Shortly before earnings, Facebook posted a clip of Mark Zuckerberg addressing Facebook employees at an internal town hall meeting this morning, where he said that the fine represents "a new chapter for the company" and said that "We are going to change they way we operate throughout the whole company."

Go deeper: Facebook settles with FTC regulators over privacy

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Tech scrambles to derail inauguration threats

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Tech companies are sharing more information with law enforcement in a frantic effort to prevent violence around the inauguration, after the government was caught flat-footed by the Capitol siege.

Between the lines: Tech knows it will be held accountable for any further violence that turns out to have been planned online if it doesn't act to stop it.

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Dave Lawler, author of World
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Uganda's election: Museveni declared winner, Wine claims fraud

Wine rejected the official results of the election. Photo: Sumy Sadruni/AFP via Getty

Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner of a sixth presidential term on Saturday, with official results giving him 59% to 35% for Bobi Wine, the singer-turned-opposition leader.

Why it matters: This announcement was predictable, as the election was neither free nor fair and Museveni had no intention of surrendering power after 35 years. But Wine — who posed a strong challenged to Museveni, particularly in urban areas, and was beaten and arrested during the campaign — has said he will present evidence of fraud. The big question is whether he will mobilize mass resistance in the streets.

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Episode 1: A premeditated lie lit the fire

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.

Episode 1: Trump’s refusal to believe the election results was premeditated. He had heard about the “red mirage” — the likelihood that early vote counts would tip more Republican than the final tallies — and he decided to exploit it.

"Jared, you call the Murdochs! Jason, you call Sammon and Hemmer!”

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