Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Facebook warned investors revenue growth would slow ‘meaningfully’ in 2017. It’s now 2017.

Facebook reports Q1 earnings Wednesday.

Mark Zuckerberg Speaks At The Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Mark Zuckerberg Speaks At The Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Justin Sullivan / Getty

Last year, Facebook told investors that it expected its 2017 revenue growth to slow “meaningfully” because the company is running out of places to show users ads in its core Facebook app.

Well, it’s now 2017, which means it’s time to see just how meaningful that slowdown actually is.

Facebook reports Q1 earnings on Wednesday, the first time that we’ll see numbers from the company this year.

Analysts expect Facebook’s quarterly revenue to come in at $7.83 billion, a 45 percent jump over the same quarter last year. For most companies that would be great growth — Twitter’s business, for example, is actually shrinking — but Facebook is not most companies. Last quarter, its business grew almost 51 percent; the quarter before that, growth was at almost 56 percent.

The problem is that Facebook says it has finally run out of room to put ads into News Feed, the core moneymaker for Facebook’s flagship app. It’s why the company is testing ads in other places, like Messenger and Instagram Stories. It’s also why it’s pushing so hard to get its mid-roll video ad business off the ground. If News Feed can’t provide revenue growth the way it has in the past, some other part of Facebook’s business will have to.

The good news for Facebook: Revenue growth is slowing because its revenue is really big. Analysts believe the company will bring in almost $38 billion this year.

More good news: Instagram, the company’s best defense against Snapchat and a service the New York Times just dubbed “Facebook’s next Facebook,” might pick up the slack. Research firm eMarketer believes Instagram will bring in $3.92 billion in 2017, more than double what it brought in last year.

These numbers are just estimates — Facebook doesn’t break out Instagram’s revenue — but that’s a positive sign that Facebook may have a second News Feed in the works.

Facebook reports earnings after market close on Wednesday. Analysts are looking for profits of $1.12 per share on $7.83 billion in revenue.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Anthropic just made AI scarierAnthropic just made AI scarier
Podcast
Podcasts

Why the company’s new AI model is a cybersecurity nightmare.

By Dustin DeSoto and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
The Supreme Court will decide when the police can use your phone to track youThe Supreme Court will decide when the police can use your phone to track you
Politics

Chatrie v. United States asks what limits the Constitution places on the surveillance state in an age of cellphones.

By Ian Millhiser
Future Perfect
The simple question that could change your careerThe simple question that could change your career
Future Perfect

Making a difference in the world doesn’t require changing your job.

By Bryan Walsh
Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol