Related: How Facebook Broke the Internet and Our Brains
Facebook Business Model Leads to 9 Billion Buyback
Ahead of the earnings report, analysts had cited advertising revenue and user engagement as key concerns following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. But Facebook reported an average of 1.45 billion daily active users during March 2018, an increase of 13% year over year. Advertising revenue was about $11.8 billion, compared to a consensus estimate of $11.3 billion.
“We think that ads is a great business model that is aligned with our mission,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors on a conference call after the earnings were released. “I know that a lot of people have had questions about the business model, and this is something that I just think we at Facebook are very proud of,” Zuckerberg added. “And we think that it is the right way to build a service that connects everyone around the world.”
For those reasons, Facebook announced it will buy back 9 billion more in shares instead of the initial 6 billion.
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