Facebook nearly doubles net income in Q2

SAN FRANCISCO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. social media giant Facebook Inc. reported on Thursday its financial results for the second quarter of 2020, with net income growing 98 percent to 5.178 U.S. billion dollars for the quarter ending on June 30, compared with 2.616 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.

Facebook's quarterly revenue grew to 18.68 billion dollars, up 11 percent year-over-year from 16.9 billion dollars, with advertising revenue rising 10 percent to 18.321 billion dollars, compared with 16.624 billion dollars in the same period last year.

Facebook said that its daily active users increased 12 percent year-over-year to 1.79 billion on average for June 2020, while its monthly active users were 2.70 billion as of June 30, 2020, also up 12 percent year-on-year.

"Looking forward, as shelter-in-place restrictions continue to ease, we expect the number of Facebook DAUs and MAUs to be flat or slightly down in most regions in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2020," the company said.

Facebook is also the owner of two popular social media apps WhatsApp and Instagram. The company's headcount rose 31 percent year-on-year to 52,534 as of June 30, 2020.

Its cash and cash equivalents, as well as marketable securities were 58.24 billion dollars at the end of the second quarter this year.

"We're glad to be able to provide small businesses the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.

Facebook said that in the first three weeks of July, the year-over-year ad revenue growth rate was approximately in-line with the 10-percent year-over-year ad revenue growth rate for the second quarter of 2020. "We expect our full quarter year-over-year ad revenue growth rate for the third quarter of 2020 will be roughly similar to this July performance."

According to Facebook, its business has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and is facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty in business outlook. "We expect our business performance will be impacted by issues beyond our control, including the duration and efficacy of shelter-in-place orders, the effectiveness of economic stimuli around the world, and the fluctuations of currencies relative to the U.S. dollar," the company said.

The company also warned of the headwinds related to ad targeting and measurement, including the impact of regulation, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, as well as the headwinds from expected changes to mobile operating platforms, which Facebook anticipates will be increasingly significant as the year progresses.