Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ: FB) released its second quarter 2020 report yesterday (overnight Aussie time). And the results far exceeded analyst expectations.
The digital advertising and social media giant reported a 10% increase in year-over-year advertising and an 11% increase in total revenue.
Net income and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were both up 98% year-over-year.
The company reported its daily active users climbed to an astonishing 1.79 billion on average in June. That's a 12% rise, year-over-year. To put this figure in perspective, that represents almost one quarter of the world's entire population. Given that young children are unlikely to be active daily users, you can see just how much penetration Facebook has achieved around the world.
Monthly active users also rose 12%, reaching 2.7 billion.
Full-year 2020 capital expenditures are expected to come in at the higher end of the company's US$14– $16 billion range. That's due to Facebook resuming its data centre construction earlier than it had expected.
A word from Facebook's CEO
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said:
We're glad to be able to provide small businesses the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times. And we're proud that people can rely on our services to stay connected when they can't always be together in person.
The company noted its business has not been immune to the fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic. It stated Facebook, like all companies, is "facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty in our business outlook".
Facebook trades on the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC). The stock closed up 0.5% at US$234.50 (AU$325.70) per share on Thursday. The Facebook share price is up 6.5% in after-hours trading. Year-to-date the share price is up 11.8%.
Will the share price keep going up?
As the company noted, every business around the world is in a period of unprecedented uncertainty. But don't forget that in June 2012 you could have bought Facebook shares for less than US$28 per share.
It won't go up in a straight line from here, but if you're wanting to add a quality blue chip stock to your portfolio, I think you should look further into Facebook.
