Facebook Q2 Profit, Revenues Beat Street View; Shares Up 7%

(RTTNews) - Facebook Inc. (FB) Thursday reported a second-quarter profit that surged from a year ago, driven largely by growth in revenues. Earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street estimates, while revenues also beat expectations. Shares of the social media giant gained nearly 7% in the after-hours session.

Menlo Park, California-based Facebook's second-quarter profit nearly doubled to $5.18 billion or $1.80 per share from $2.62 billion or $0.91 per share last year. On average, 41 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $1.39 per share for the quarter.

Last year's second-quarter results included an additional $2.0 billion legal expense related to the company's settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and a $1.1 billion income tax expense due to the Altera Ninth Circuit Opinion.

Revenues for the quarter jumped 11 percent to $18.69 billion from $16.89 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $17.40 billion for the quarter.

Daily active users were up 12 percent to 1.79 billion on average for June, while monthly active users increased 12 percent to 2.70 billion. Total advertising revenues rose 10 percent to $18.32 billion.

Facebook said its business has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, like all companies, it is facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty in business outlook.

FB closed Thursday's trading at $234.50, up $1.21 or 0.52%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $16.10 or 6.87% in the after-hours trading.