Facebook is expected to report first-quarter earnings and revenue in extended trading on Wednesday, and investors will be watching for clues on how the social network plans to monetize its key Stories feature.
Wall Street anticipates that the company will report earnings of $1.63 per share ー down from $1.69 a year ago ー and revenue of $14.9 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Facebook ($FB) shares have rebounded close to 50 percent since December lows. The stock had weakened throughout 2018 following a series of data breaches and privacy scandals. Its recovery suggests investors may be feeling confident Facebook can weather future regulatory or privacy challenges that come its way.
That doesn't, of course, discount any more potential revelations regarding Facebook's privacy mismanagement. Facebook disclosed on Apr. 19 ー the same day that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and the White House dropped ー that login info for millions of Instagram users had been stored in a readable format on Facebook's internal servers, Common Dreams reported.
Facebook's fourth-quarter results reinforced investor optimism. The company reported stronger than anticipated earnings and revenue, despite ongoing controversy over the company's handling of privacy and its users' data. The company's earnings jumped 68 percent since the previous year and revenue climbed by about 61 percent, CNBC reported. Facebook also saw daily active users grow in its core Facebook product, even the U.S., where active users had previously plateaued.
The company also announced last quarter it would stop breaking out active users for its core Facebook platform, instead wrapping them into metrics from its other properties. That move would likely hide stagnation for Facebook, but also could hamper bigger growth numbers from products like Instagram.
Lastly, Facebook has been laser-focused on its Stories features and messaging apps. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook will shift focus toward encrypted and private messaging, despite the company's rather checkered history with privacy. Facebook execs could share clarification on its plans to monetize Stories and unify messaging on a call with investors after the social media giant reports earnings.
Melissa Snover, Founder & CEO of Nourished, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss her one-of-a-kind business that offers customizable, 3D printed vitamins that offer less hassle, cost, and waste than traditional vitamins.
Mental health platform Real recently raised $37 million in a Series B round led by Owl Ventures. Through its mobile app, Real says it provides mental health care at a lower cost than traditional therapy and aims to make mental wellness a part of everyone's daily routine. The company also announced that U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe will serve as an adviser to the company. Ariela Safira, Founder & CEO of Real, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 28, 2022, with Elon Musk mocking Twitter's top legal exec Vijaya Gadde on the platform itself, a probe in George Floyd's death finding discrimination within the Minneapolis police force, the latest California drought leading to new water restrictions, and more.
Ford CFO John Lawler joined Cheddar News to talk about the auto giant's Q1 earnings report that beat on revenue and EPS. Despite the good numbers, Lawler spoke to challenges Ford had to navigate. "We also see the continued disruption to the supply chain impacting our production, and that hit us in the first quarter as well. So it kept us from having an even stronger quarter," he said. Lawler noted that chip shortages leading to the supply constraints should ease up throughout the year.
Tech giant Microsoft won a military contract for the production of its IVAS (integrated visual augmentation system) combat goggles, based on its HoloLens ARG tech, worth up to $21.9 billion over 10 years. However, the Pentagon is now saying that the device "has not yet demonstrated the capability to serve as a fighting goggle," and that the Army made mistakes in the program's initial stages by not clearly describing minimum performance standards. While testing continues, concerns have grown outside of the Defense Department to Congress and even within Microsoft itself. Cheddar's Ken Buffa takes a deeper look at the possible boondoggle.
