LIVE: Here comes Facebook's earnings

Facebook is about to announce its first-quarter financial earnings — giving the world its first real look at how the pandemic has disrupted its business.

The Menlo Park, California-based social networking giant will announce its numbers after markets close on Wednesday. For years, it has posted strong growth and profits, but it is expected to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has sparked a sharp decline in advertising spending even as usage of online communication platforms have soared.

Here are the key numbers Wall Street is expecting (figures via Bloomberg):

• Revenue: $17.27 billion, up roughly 15% year-on-year
• Earnings Per Share (GAAP): $1.71

The full impact of the pandemic on Facebook won't be publicly known for months to come: The economic crisis in the US didn't drastically escalate until March, the last month of Q1.

On Tuesday, rival Google announced its Q1 2020 earnings, including a "significant slowdown in ad revenues" in March.

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