Facebook meets expectations, posts profit in Q2

The social networking giant's performance was almost exactly in line with consensus which estimated quarterly earnings to hit $0.12 per share on revenue of $1.16 billion. Facebook's IPO was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in early May as one of the biggest in tech history though the stock quickly tumbled in intraday trading.

Advertising revenue was up 28 percent for the second calendar quarter, reaching $992 million as monthly active users totaled 955 million for the period ending on June 30. While the monthly user count represented an increase of 29 percent year-to-year and met consensus, the number of daily active users blew away estimates with an average of 552 million in June. DAUs increased 32 percent year-over-year while consensus was at 19 percent.

Showing the greatest growth since last year was mobile active users which topped out at 543 million as of June 30 representing a 67 percent increase from the year ago quarter. Fueling a significant portion of Facebook's mobile growth are apps made for Apple's iOS which augment the social media experience like Facebook Messenger.

The announcement was not without its shortfalls, however, as it was revealed the company would have actually suffered a $157 million net loss amounting to a drop of $0.08 per share if a pre-2011 restricted stock unit compensation was counted in the quarterly results. Company spending was also high for the quarter at $413 million in capital expenditures, a year-to-year increase of 213 percent. Facebook also reported a GAAP operating loss of $743 million for the second quarter of 2012 compared to a GAAP operating income of $407 million in the year ago quarter.

More recently, the company launched its Facebook App Center which provides a hub for users to browse Facebook-integrated iOS and Android apps. On Wednesday the App Center went international and rolled out in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey, according to Venture Beat.

A recent report claimed Facebook hired a number of former Apple engineers to work on a reworked performance-minded iOS app for release sometime in the near future. The company is also said to be developing a self-branded smartphone to be built by HTC for release in late 2012 or mid-2013.

Facebook stock ended the day down 2.5 points or 8.5 percent and is seeing a further declines in after market trading, dropping another 2.8 points or 10.45 percent percent. As of this writing the stock is hovering just above $24.