Facebook profit increases 17pc to $9.2bn in July-September

Facebook reported an annual 17 percent jump in third-quarter net profit, driven by an increase in daily active users and strong advertising sales despite the platform facing multiple controversies that have led to calls for tighter regulation.

Net profit surged to $9.2 billion in the three months to the end of September. The company’s net profit was down more than 11.5 percent on a quarterly basis. Revenue during the period rose 35 percent to more than $29bn, missing average $29.6bn estimates made by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

“We made good progress this quarter and our community continues to grow,” Facebook’s founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said.

The company’s advertising sales, which jumped 33 per cent, contributed about $28.3bn to the company’s overall revenue. Revenue from other streams – including consumer hardware – rose 195 per cent on an annual basis to $734m.

Facebook’s stock rose about 2.8 percent to $338 a share in after-hours trading. Its shares have gained almost 19 percent in the past 12 months and close to 22 per cent since the start of this year.

In its financial guidance for the fourth quarter, Facebook expects total revenue to hover in the range of $31.5bn to $34bn. The company’s outlook reflects the “significant uncertainty” it faced in the October-December period considering continued headwinds from Apple’s iOS 14 changes and Covid-related challenges, Facebook’s chief financial officer David Wehner said. Facebook saw an annual 20 percent increase in headcount in the third quarter to 68,177