Jul 30, 2020 - Economy & Business

Facebook beats Wall Street estimates despite pandemic and boycott

Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

Facebook's stock was up more than 6% in after-hours trading on Thursday, after the tech giant reported strong revenue growth, despite a global ad slowdown due to the pandemic and a growing advertiser boycott.

Why it matters: Facebook's ability to beat top and bottom line revenue expectations amid the coronavirus crisis and the boycott speaks to the strength of the company's appeal to marketers despite serious challenges.

Yes, but: The company wasn't totally immune to the headwinds facing the ad market. While it reported strong user engagement numbers as people have been stranded at home, it also experienced its slowest quarter for advertising growth (up 11%) since going public in 2012.

The big picture: The report comes on the heels of Wednesday's historic antitrust hearing in which CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with executives of other tech giants, answered questions about their market dominance and business practices.

By the numbers, per CNBC:

  • Earnings: $1.80 vs. $1.39 per share forecast by Refinitv
  • Revenue: $18.7 billion vs. $17.4 billion forecast by Refinitiv
  • Daily active users (DAUs):  1.79 billion vs. 1.7 billion forecast by FactSet
  • Monthly active users (MAUs):  2.7 billion vs. 2.6 billion forecast by FactSet

What's next: The company says it expects that as shelter-in-place restrictions continue to ease, the number of Facebook users will likely be "flat or slightly down in most regions" in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of the year.

Go deeper:

Go deeper

Ashley Gold
Aug 6, 2020 - Technology

Female members of Congress to Facebook: Do better

Photo: Graeme Jennings via Getty Images

Facebook must do better to protect women in politics, who face a barrage of sexism, hate and harassment on the platform, members of the Democratic Women Caucus including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to the social network Thursday.

Context: Facebook, under heavy scrutiny for misinformation, privacy and antitrust concerns, recently kept a doctored video of Pelosi up, though fact checkers labeled it as "partly false." The platform came under fire for not removing a doctored video of Pelosi in 2019 as well.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Ashley Gold
Aug 6, 2020 - Technology

T-Mobile says it's now No. 2 wireless carrier, ahead of AT&T

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

T-Mobile Thursday said it has overtaken AT&T to become the number two wireless carrier in the U.S., ending the second quarter with 98.3 million total subscribers. Shares in T-Mobile surged 7% in after-hours trading.

The big picture: T-Mobile's merger with Sprint, which a federal judge allowed to go forward in February, gave the company a boost, and left the U.S. with only three major national wireless carriers. Verizon is in the lead.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
Aug 7, 2020 - Technology

Facebook allows employees to work from home until July 2021

Photo: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Facebook will allow its employees to work from home through at least July 2021, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Thursday.

The big picture: It joins fellow Big Tech giant Google with the extended move toward remote work amid the coronavirus pandemic. Other tech companies with significant confirmed remote work extensions include Amazon and Snapchat, which are allowing their workers to stay at home through at least the end of the year.