The company tightened the range of expected expenses this year to USD 53-64 billion from 52-55 billion. Capex will be unchanged at USD 16 billion. For next year, the company sees capex at USD 21-23 billion, driven by investments in data centres, servers, network infrastructure and office facilities. The outlook includes spend that was delayed 2020 due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on construction.
Revenues for Q3 rose 22 percent from the year before to USD 21.47 billion, with ad revenue also up 22 percent, to USD 21.22 billion. Total costs and expenses for the quarter increased by 28 percent to USD 13.43 billion, putting the operating profit at USD 8.04 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year. The net profit meanwhile advanced 29 percent to USD 7.85 billion, with diluted earnings per share up 28 percent to USD 2.71.
The number of daily active users lifted 12 percent to 1.82 billion in September, from 1.79 billion in the previous quarter. Monthly active users went 12 percent higher to 2.74 billion, from 2.70 billion in the second quarter. The 'family' of services - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger - attracted around 2.54 billion people per day on average in September, up 12 percent from the year before and compared to 2.47 billion people in June. Per month, the number lifted to 3.21 billion, an increase of 14 percent year-on-year and from 3.14 billion in Q2.
Capex for Q3 amounted to USD 3.88 billion from 3.36 billion in the previous quarter, while the company’s cash position went to USD 55.62 billion, from 58.24 billion at end June. Headcount climbed 32 percent from the year before to 56,653, against 52,534 in Q2.
