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Facebook's Q4 Earnings Beat Doesn't Seem That Impressive to Investors

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Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) released its most recent quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The social media giant said that it had $3.88 in earnings per share (EPS) on $28.07 billion in revenue. Analysts were calling for $3.22 in EPS and $26.43 billion in revenue. The fourth quarter from last year had $2.56 in EPS and $21.08 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, daily active users totaled 1.84 billion on average for December 2020, an increase of 11% year over year. At the same time, monthly active users increased by 12% to 2.80 billion.

Family daily active people (DAP) increased 15% year over year to 2.60 billion, while family monthly active people (MAP) increased 14% to 3.30 billion. Note that these “Family” metrics represent estimates of the underlying number of unique people using one or more of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and/or WhatsApp.

Mobile advertising revenue represented roughly 98% of advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020, relatively the same level from the fourth quarter last year.

Facebook did not issue guidance for the first quarter. However, analysts are calling for $2.10 in EPS and $22.39 billion in revenue for the coming quarter.

On the books, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $61.95 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $54.86 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Facebook stock closed Wednesday at $272.14, with a 52-week range of $137.10 to $304.67. Analysts have a consensus price target of $325.50. Following the announcement, the stock was trading relatively flat at $273.05 in the after-hours session.

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