Facebook Analyst: Tech Firms Will Have to Invest "Billions" in Security
While some Facebook execs were in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, testifying about Russia-backed ads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced blow-out earnings. The company reported ad revenue of over $10 billion and 2.07 billion monthly active users. Daniel Ives, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Technology Research at GBH Insights, discusses the social media platform's 2018 guidance.
Zuckerberg said 2018 will be a year of "investment." Ives believes this should be used to further expand its ad growth, AR, mobile platforms, video, consumer engagement, and Instagram/Messenger monetization into 2018 and beyond. However, Ives said the platform will need to invest billions in security, which concerns investors. Zuckerberg warns that the company's future profitability will be impacted because of it.
Plus, we can't forget Apple. The tech giant reports earnings after the bell Thursday. Ives says early demand for the iPhone X will continue throughout the year. He says the Street really wants to see guidance for 75-80 million units in the month of December. He believes this will be Apple's biggest super cycle.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
