It is a massive thumbs-up for Fb relating to attracting and preserving customers.
James Martin/CNET
Fb mentioned Wednesday that the Federal Commerce Fee opened an antitrust investigation into the corporate, however the heightened regulatory scrutiny would not seem to have slowed down the social community’s development.
The brand new investigation got here on the identical day that the Federal Commerce Fee introduced that it was hitting Fb with a document $5 billion positive for its earlier privateness mishaps. It additionally comes a day after the US Division of Justice mentioned it was trying into anti-competition considerations surrounding “market-leading on-line platforms,” corresponding to social media companies, suggesting that the evaluate would affect Fb.
Nonetheless, Fb confirmed that customers are nonetheless logging into the location. The world’s largest social community mentioned that 2.41 billion folks now log into Fb each month, an eight% improve in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.
Fb reported $16.9 billion in income within the second quarter, which runs from April to June. That is above the $16.5 billion that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipated on common.
The social community made $2.6 billion within the second quarter. Fb earned 91 cents per share, falling in need of expectations of $1.85. The corporate mentioned that the earnings included a number of bills such because the authorized prices of the FTC settlement.
The corporate revealed little in regards to the new FTC investigation that it was notified of in June. The FTC did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
Earlier within the day, Fb agreed to type a brand new board committee to assist shield consumer privateness as a part of a separate settlement with the FTC. The positive is the biggest ever in opposition to an organization for mishandling of shopper privateness, the FTC mentioned. Lawmakers and advocacy teams argue that the deal did not deal with the core downside: Fb’s advert enterprise depends on gathering consumer information.
The FTC has been investigating the corporate since revelations final 12 months that UK political guide agency Cambridge Analytica harvested the information of as much as 87 million customers with out their consent. The agency, which labored on President Donald Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign, received the information via the proprietor of a quiz app that scraped info from Fb customers and their pals.
The deal is not the top of the scrutiny that Fb is dealing with from regulators within the US and overseas. The social community can also be planning to launch a brand new cryptocurrency known as Libra in 2020, a transfer that sparked a backlash from lawmakers and nonprofits that suppose the corporate ought to quickly halt these efforts.
Fb’s inventory is presently up greater than 1 % in after-hours buying and selling to $207.69 per share.
“We had a robust quarter and our enterprise and neighborhood proceed to develop,” mentioned Fb CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in a press release. “We’re investing in constructing stronger privateness protections for everybody and on delivering new experiences for the individuals who use our companies.”
Initially revealed July 24, 1:15 p.m. PT
Replace, 1:21 p.m. PT: Provides background about FTC antitrust investigation and assertion from Zuckerberg
