In the first earnings report following Facebook’s IPO, Facebook Inc. announced a 32 percent increase in revenue in the second quarter. While the growth was in line with average forecasts, the No. 1 social network’s shares took a dive of 11 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday.
Facebook’s monthly active users also grew to 955 million by the end of June, an increase from 901 million at the end of March. Despite the growth, Facebook’s shares dropped to a new low of 23.94 in frantic trading.
Due to heavy stock compensation charges linked to its May 18 IPO, Facebook reported a net loss of $157 million, or 8 cents per share in the second quarter. In the same period in 2011, Facebook posted a net income of $240 million, or 11 cents a share. Excluding the charges, Facebook said it made 12 cents per share.
The eight-year-old company, started by then Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and now based in Menlo Park, Calif., did report $1.18 billion in revenue, compared to $895 million for the same quarter a year ago. “Our goal is to help every person stay connected and every product they use be a great social experience,” Zuckerberg said at the press conference.
Contrary to what some investors had hoped, the company did not offer an outlook for the third quarter.
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