Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is up nearly 4 percent in extended hours trading after announcing its second quarter earnings report earlier this afternoon. The company’s second quarter profit soared to $3.89 billion, a year-over-year increase of nearly 71 percent. Facebook’s second quarter revenue increased by nearly 45 percent, from $6.44 billion to $9.32 billion. Analysts were expecting an increase of 43 percent.
This announcement marked the company’s ninth straight quarterly beat, driven primarily by video and mobile ad sales, especially those on Instagram. Mobile ad sales accounted for roughly 87 percent of Facebook’s total ad sales during the last quarter, an increase of 3 percent from the same period a year ago.
“We had a good second quarter and first half of the year,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release on Wednesday.
“Our community is now two billion people and we’re focusing on bringing the world closer together.”
According to Forbes , the extended hours’ gains have pushed Zuckerberg’s net worth to $56.7 billion , an increase of $3.4 billion. Zuckerberg, now 33, is the youngest member among the world’s 10 richest people, and currently ranks fifth, right behind Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos. Since 2008, Zuckerberg’s net worth has ballooned by approximately $55.2 billion.
One potential pitfall for the company moving forward is its warning that it may be hitting “maximum ad load” in the News Feed. Analysts and investors will be looking to see if the company can generate additional revenue streams, particularly focusing on whether the company can monetize its messenger service.
“I want to see us move a little faster here, but I’m confident that we’re going to get this right over the long term,” Zuckerberg said.
One area that investors were hoping to get more clarity on was the revenue contribution from Instagram. Although the company hasn’t said how much of its revenue is due to Instagram , it’s clear that Instagram continues to be a major factor in the company’s success. In fact, while Facebook and Instagram continue to take positive steps forward, Instagram’s main competitor, Snapchat, appears to be faltering. The parent company of Snapchat, Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP), is trading near its 52-week low.
A few additional metrics that investors and analysts were paying close attention to were the growth in daily and monthly active users. Both daily and monthly active users were up 17 percent year-over-year. Investors will continue to pay close attention to the user growth to ensure that the company continues to take the necessary steps to monetize its growing user base.
Based on prior year’s announcements, Facebook’s third quarter earnings report should be released towards the end of October or early November.
[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
