Facebook soars in Q1—even amid mishandled personal data backlash
Despite being under scrutiny for how it protected user data, Facebook ended the first quarter with even more daily users and mobile advertising revenue.
For the quarter ended March 31, Facebook’s net income was $4.99 billion, and net revenue was $11.97 billion. This topped analysts’ average estimates of $4.01 billion for net income, and $11.41 billion in revenue.
The company’s daily active users (DAUs) were 1.45 billion on average, an increase of 13% year-over-year. Monthly active users (MAUs) were 2.20 billion, also an increase of 13% from last year.
Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2018. This was also up from approximately 85% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2017.
The gains reveal that business was not hurt by accusations that Facebook mishandled users’ personal data. Political data firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to private data belonging to approximately 87 million users. The incident, which was disclosed in March, generated backlash in the form of calls for regulation and for users to leave the social network.
"Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018," said CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. "We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together."
For the quarter ended March 31, Facebook’s net income was $4.99 billion, and net revenue was $11.97 billion. This topped analysts’ average estimates of $4.01 billion for net income, and $11.41 billion in revenue.
The company’s daily active users (DAUs) were 1.45 billion on average, an increase of 13% year-over-year. Monthly active users (MAUs) were 2.20 billion, also an increase of 13% from last year.
Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2018. This was also up from approximately 85% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2017.
The gains reveal that business was not hurt by accusations that Facebook mishandled users’ personal data. Political data firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to private data belonging to approximately 87 million users. The incident, which was disclosed in March, generated backlash in the form of calls for regulation and for users to leave the social network.
"Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018," said CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. "We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together."