Facebook posts $59 million net loss in fiscal Q3, touts 1.01 billion active users
The bloom is slightly off the rose for Facebook. After a banner first post-IPO quarter, it's recording a net loss in its fiscal third quarter of $59 million despite its revenue climbing to $1.26 billion -- a big swing that the company is blaming on payroll tax tweaks and income taxes, which becomes clearer when you learn that the company posted a $311 million profit before factoring in standard accounting practices. Facebook hasn't said exactly what had the biggest impact, although its closing the Instagram deal wouldn't have helped matters. Still, the company isn't glum about its prospects: following an earlier mention of the milestone by founder Mark Zuckerberg, the earnings report touts that there are over 1.01 billion active Facebook users who check in at least once a month, over 604 million of which were mobile. Between a reworked iOS app, a freshened Facebook Messenger and new ad-friendly SDKs, the social network is bracing for a potential bonanza ahead.
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Facebook Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results
MENLO PARK, Calif. – Oct. 23, 2012 – Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) today reported financial
results for the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2012.
"As proud as I am that a billion people use Facebook each month, I'm also really happy that
over 600 million people now share and connect on Facebook every month using mobile
devices," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "People who use our mobile
products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform. At the same time, we are
deeply integrating monetization into our product teams in order to build a stronger, more
valuable company."
Third Quarter 2012 Financial Summary
Third Quarter 2012 Operational Highlights
* Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.01 billion as of September 30, 2012, an increase of
26% year-over-year
* Daily active users (DAUs) were 584 million on average for September 2012, an increase
of 28% year-over-year
* Mobile MAUs were 604 million as of September 30, 2012, an increase of 61% year-over-year
Recent Business Highlights
Product
* Completely rebuilt Facebook for iOS for faster and more reliable performance
* Updated Messenger for Android and iOS and made Facebook Camera available in 18
languages
* Continued to make it easy for mobile developers to build with Facebook
o New Software Development Kits (SDKs) for iOS and Android
o Deep integration into iOS 6.0
* Launched Facebook Gifts, a way to send gifts to celebrate the special moments millions
of people share on Facebook each day
Advertising
* Launched several new advertising products, such as Custom Audiences, Facebook
Exchange, Offers, and mobile app install ads
* Generated 14% of advertising revenue during the third quarter from mobile
Corporate
* Connected 1 billion people since founding the company eight years ago
* Created Facebook Stories, a new website to share the stories of people using Facebook
in extraordinary ways at www.facebookstories.com
* Closed Instagram acquisition
* Opened first international engineering office in London
Third Quarter 2012 Financial Highlights
Revenue – Revenue for the third quarter totaled $1.26 billion, an increase of 32%, compared with $954 million in the third quarter of 2011. Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue would have increased by 38%.
* Revenue from advertising was $1.09 billion, representing 86% of total revenue and a
36% increase from the same quarter last year. Excluding the impact of year-over-year
changes in foreign exchange rates, advertising revenue would have increased by 43%.
* Payments and other fees revenue for the third quarter was $176 million, a 13% increase
over the same quarter in the prior year and a 9% decline sequentially from the second
quarter of 2012.
Costs and expenses – Third quarter costs and expenses were $885 million, an increase of 64% from the third quarter of 2011. Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP costs and expenses were $737 million, an increase of 57%.
Income from operations – For the third quarter, GAAP income from operations was $377
million, compared to income from operations of $414 million for the third quarter of 2011.
Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP income from operations for the third quarter was $525 million, compared to $484 million for the third quarter of 2011.
Operating margin – GAAP operating margin was 30% for the third quarter of 2012, compared to 43% for the third quarter of 2011. Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, non-GAAP operating margin was 42% for the third quarter of 2012, compared to 51% for the third quarter of 2011.
Income tax provision – The GAAP income tax provision for the third quarter was $431 million, representing a 116% effective tax rate, driven by share-based compensation expense, a portion of which is not tax-deductible. Excluding share-based compensation expense and related payroll tax expenses, the non-GAAP effective tax rate would have been approximately 40%.
Net income (loss) – GAAP income before provision for income taxes was $372 million. After the provision for income taxes, GAAP net loss for the third quarter was $59 million, compared to net income of $227 million for the third quarter of 2011. GAAP EPS for third quarter of 2012 was ($0.02), compared to $0.10 for the same quarter in the prior year. Excluding share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses and income tax adjustments, non-GAAP net income was $311 million or $0.12 per share, compared to $273 million and $0.12 per share for the same quarter in the prior year.
Capital expenditures – Purchases of property and equipment for the quarter were $171 million. Additionally, $161 million of equipment was procured or financed through capital leases during the third quarter of 2012.
Cash and marketable securities – As of September 30, 2012, cash and marketable securities
were $10.5 billion.
