The social media giant, Facebook, has shared the reports of its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019. The company has reported $21.802 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 and $70.697 billion for the full year. The revenue is up by 25% and 27% respectively from the same period in 2018. In December 2019, Facebook reported an average of 1.66 billion daily active users that is up by 8%.
The chief financial officer, David Wehner, in his opening remarks during Facebook’s earnings call said that over 9,300 new hires in 2019 were primarily in technical functions. This year, the head count was 44,942 as of Dec. 31, meaning 26% up year-over-year. He added that the overall ad impressions served across Facebook’s services has jumped by 31% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. The average price per ad slipped 5%. These ads are mainly driven by News Feed, Instagram Stories and Instagram feed.
Wehner added that the Facebook News Feed impression growth has gained primarily from community growth and engagement trends on the Facebook application. This increasing users trend has further led to many businesses and personalities buying legit and cheap facebook page likes to increase their brand awareness and following even more.
Whereas the year-over-year decline in average price per ad was primarily driven by the ongoing mix shift toward ads on Stories and in geographies that monetize at lower rates. He also mentioned that the growth in DAUs was fueled by gains in India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The main factor behind the revenue is Advertising. It accounted for $20.736 billion in the fourth quarter and $69.655 billion in the full year. In the prior quarter the net income was $6.882 billion but this year it is up by 7% at $7.349 billion. Though it has slipped from $22.112 billion to $18.485 billion (16% slip) for the full year.