Facebook reports strong Q1 results with nearly doubled revenue

U.S. social media giant Facebook Inc. reported on Wednesday its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, with net income growing 94 percent to 9.50 billion U.S. dollars for the quarter ending on March 31, compared with 4.90 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year, reported Xinhua.

Facebook's quarterly revenue grew to 26.17 billion dollars, up 48 percent year-over-year from 17.74 billion dollars, with advertising revenue rising 46 percent to 25.44 billion dollars, compared with 17.44 billion dollars in the same period last year.

The advertising revenue growth in the first quarter of 2021 was driven by a 30 percent year-over-year increase in the average price per ad and a 12 percent increase in the number of ads delivered, according to David Wehner, chief financial officer of Facebook.

The company's daily active users were 1.88 billion on average for March 2021, an increase of 8 percent year-over-year, while its monthly active users were 2.85 billion as of March. 31, 2021, up 10 percent year-on-year, according to the financial report.

Facebook is also the owner of two popular social media apps WhatsApp and Instagram. The company's headcount was 60,654 by the end of March 2021, an increase of 26 percent year-over-year.

Its cash and cash equivalents, as well as marketable securities were 64.22 billion dollars as of March. 31, 2021.

"We had a strong quarter as we helped people stay connected and businesses grow," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.

"We will continue to invest aggressively to deliver new and meaningful experiences for years to come, including in newer areas like augmented and virtual reality, commerce, and the creator economy," he added.

"We expect second-quarter 2021 year-over-year total revenue growth to remain stable or modestly accelerate relative to the growth rate in the first quarter of 2021," Wehner said. "We continue to expect increased ad targeting headwinds in 2021 from regulatory and platform changes."

"There is also continuing uncertainty around the viability of transatlantic data transfers in light of recent European regulatory developments ... we are closely monitoring the potential impact on our European operations as these developments progress," Wehner noted.