Facebook Calms Investors Despite Onslaught of Bad News

The company is managing to remain financially healthy even as its practices continue to raise alarms.

By Tae Kim, October 25, 2021

Amid all the scandals and controversy, Facebook Inc. watchers were on pins and needles going into the company’s most hotly anticipated quarterly report in years. In the end, it fell a bit short. But with many expecting far worse, sometimes avoiding disaster is good enough.

Late Monday, the social-media company posted third-quarter sales figures that slightly missed Wall Street’s expectations. Revenue in the period ended in September rose 35% from a year earlier to $29 billion, below the $29.5 billion median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Facebook also gave a revenue guidance range for its current quarter of $31.5 billion to $34 billion, again below the $34.8 billion median forecast. The company also announced it would break out the financials for Facebook Reality Labs, its augmented and virtual reality product division, starting in its fourth quarter. Following the report, Facebook shares rose by more than 3% in after-hours trading.

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