Facebook adds $44 billion in market value after reporting earnings beat, increased usage amid coronavirus pandemic

• Shares of Facebook added as much as $44 billion in market value after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates.
• The social media company reported daily active users jumped 11% to 1.73 billion on average in March.
• While the company saw an increase in user numbers across its app ecosystem, it also reported a significant reduction in demand for advertising as businesses across the country are shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook added as much as $44 billion in market value after its stock jumped as much as 8% to $209.69 in Thursday morning trades following the company's earnings report that showed an increase in user numbers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Facebook reported fiscal first quarter earnings that beat earnings-per-share estimates and revenue estimates.

Here are the key numbers:

Revenue: $17.7 billion, versus the $17.3 billion estimate

GAAP earnings per share: $1.71, versus the $1.70 estimate

Daily active users: 1.73 billion, versus the 1.7 billion estimate

Monthly active users: 2.6 billion, versus the 2.55 billion estimate

Despite the 18% surge in revenue year-over-year, the company noted a significant decline in advertising demand toward the end of March as stay-at-home orders swept across the US and the rest of the world.

Read more: Tim Bratz went from flipping $14,000 houses to a 3,472-unit portfolio worth $275 million. Here's the 'amazing' investment strategy he employs to build his long-term wealth.

"We experienced a significant reduction in the demand for advertising, as well as a related decline in the pricing of our ads, over the last three weeks of the first quarter of 2020," Facebook said.

Following the period of advertising weakness, Facebook saw a change in April, it said. The company added, "After the initial steep decrease in advertising revenue in March, we have seen signs of stability reflected in the first three weeks of April, where advertising revenue has been approximately flat compared to the same period a year ago."

For Facebook's family of apps, which includes WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, the company reported monthly active users rose 11% to 2.99 billion in the month of March.

Facebook declined to provide forward-looking guidance given the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg also on Facebook's earnings call gave his view of the potential danger of reopening the economy too soon following the coronavirus pandemic.

"While there are massive societal costs from the current shelter-in-place restrictions, I worry that reopening certain places too quickly before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels will almost guarantee future outbreaks and worsen longer-term health and economic outcomes," he said.

Zuckerberg's view contrasts with that of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who compared the current coronavirus response to "facism" on Tesla's Wednesday evening earnings call.

Read the original article on Business Insider