The social network, like Google on Tuesday, said it’s feeling the squeeze but expects to weather it with only modest long-term effects.
The company said it saw a “significant reduction” in ad prices and demand in the last three weeks of March. It declined to give revenue guidance for the rest of the year, but said in the second quarter so far, it has seen “signs of stability” in the first three weeks of April. Ad revenue during this time has been flat compared with the year-ago period,
It was a “decent quarter, all things considered,” said eMarketer social media analyst
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting higher earnings of
Facebook had warned last month that its business was already being squeezed by the advertising downturn even though usage of its services has risen. In countries hard-hit by the pandemic, it said messaging traffic was up 50% while voice and video calling had doubled, but added that it doesn’t make money on many of those services and that ad business had “weakened” in those regions.
Even before the pandemic slowed the global advertising market,
The company said 2.99 billion people used at least one of its apps —
CEO
Nonetheless, Zuckerberg said the virus's effects on the company have been significant. And he expressed concern that the ongoing health emergency and economic fallout will go on longer than expected if places reopen before coronavirus infections are reduced to a “minimal” rate.
The company said 95% of its employees are working from home.
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