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What to Expect When Facebook Reports After the Close

Facebook is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results after the markets close on Wednesday.

By Chris Lange
Published July 25, 2018, 10:25am ET · 2 min read

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A candid photograph of Mark Zuckerberg, a young man with short, curly brown hair, wearing a dark gray t-shirt. He stands holding a transparent plastic bottle of yellow liquid with an orange cap, looking slightly to his left with a gentle smile. In the background, a large black monitor prominently displays the yellow word 'facebook' on a bright blue screen. A reflection of a man's head and shoulders is faintly visible on the monitor. To the far left, a blurry man in glasses is partially visible. In the lower right foreground, a laptop screen also shows the 'facebook' logo.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is seen here during an earlier period of the company's history, reflecting on the origins of the social media giant now known as Meta Platforms. The image provides context to the current challenges and transformations discussed in the financial news. © Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is scheduled to release its second-quarter financial results after the markets close on Wednesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $1.72 in earnings per share (EPS) and $13.36 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, the social media leader said it had EPS of $1.32 and $9.32 in revenue.

Facebook is the largest social network, with over 2.0 billion monthly active users and over 1.4 billion daily active users. The company generates revenue from advertising and from payments, with over 95% of revenue from advertising. It generates close to 50% of revenues in the United States and Canada and is expanding rapidly in international markets.

Its solutions also include Instagram, a mobile application that enables people to take photos or videos, customize them with filter effects, and share them with friends and followers in a photo feed or send them directly to friends; Messenger, a messaging application for mobile and web on various platforms and devices, which enables people to reach others instantly, as well as enables businesses to engage with customers; and WhatsApp Messenger, a mobile messaging application.

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Overall, Facebook has outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 29% in the past 52 weeks. In just 2018 alone, the stock is up roughly 22%.

A few analysts weighed in on Facebook ahead of the report:

  • BMO Capital Markets has a Hold rating and a $210 price target.
  • JPMorgan has a Buy rating with a $242 price target.
  • Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $225 target.
  • Macquarie has a Buy rating with a $220 target price.
  • Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating and a $220 target price.
  • Wedbush has an Outperform rating with a $275 target.

Shares of Facebook were last seen trading at $216.15, with a consensus analyst price target of $233.08 and a 52-week range of $149.02 to $216.61.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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