Can Facebook follow last quarter s blockbuster earnings report with a strong showing when it reports results this afternoon?
Expectations are high: Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate profit of 40 cents a share on $3.12 billion in revenue. That compares with profit of 25 cents a share on $2.02 billion in sales in the year-ago quarter.
After the company in July reported second-quarter sales that rose 61 percent and profit that more than doubled year over year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the earnings call that the company s recent moves — such as spending billions of dollars on WhatsApp and Oculus VR — would not pay off right away.
But Mark Mahaney, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said on CNBC s Squawk on the Street Monday that initiatives such as autoplay video ads and Instagram monetization are among the causes for optimism in the near term. (Another but: As the Mercury News reported, COO Sheryl Sandberg also sounded a cautious note about Instagram during last quarter s earnings call, saying the company would proceed slowly and carefully with ads on Instagram.)
Other analysts are also optimistic about ads in general, including mobile-ad sales, which in the second quarter accounted for the majority of Facebook s ad sales.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali praised the company s position as the largest, most engaged mass-reach Internet platform for advertisers, unmatched targeting potential, and very potent monetization formats.
Finally, yet another reason for the great expectations: Facebook has beat Wall Street estimates nine quarters in a row.
Facebook shares are down slightly, about 0.25 percent, today. They ve risen about 40 percent over the past six months.
Photo from Reuters archives
