Facebook Inc beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday and said it has seen "signs of stability" for sales in April after a plunge in March, in yet another signal that tech giants may weather the coronavirus-induced economic collapse better than other sectors.
The announcement came a day after Alphabet's Google said a drop in its online ad sales similarly steadied in April. Shares of Facebook, the world's biggest social network and the owner of WhatsApp and Instagram, soared 9% in extended trading.
Facebook said advertising revenue was roughly flat in the first three weeks of April compared with the same period last year, a tentative early sign of recovery following a "steep decrease" in revenue in March as lockdowns took effect worldwide to slow the spread of the virus.
Revenue growth was 18% in the first quarter, Facebook's slowest ever, although it beat analysts' expectations for growth of 16%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Ad sales rose 17% to $17.44 billion.
Facebook said it was lowering its guidance for total expenses in 2020 to $52 billion-$56 billion, down from a prior range of $54 billion-$59 billion, citing slower headcount growth and savings from canceled travel, events and marketing.
Total costs for the first quarter rose just 1% to $11.84 billion, well below the 5.6% rise that analysts had forecast.
Facebook said around 3 billion users interacted with at least one of its apps each month in the quarter, up from 2.9 billion last quarter, as the use of social networks surged with people stuck at home during virus-related lockdowns.
Some of that engagement is expected to slip once shelter-in-place orders are relaxed, the company said.
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