The bad news for Facebook does not extend to its earnings — yet

Facebook FB, -5.05% has gone done a nutrient grinder of a atrocious quality rhythm the past fewer weeks, yet fewer judge those issues volition derail gross and shares. Consider the past fewer weeks — a dependable fare of dire headlines that included specified gems arsenic “The Facebook Files,” “Whistleblower reveals interior Facebook documents,” the announced departure of the company’s longtime main exertion officer, a legal combat with the Federal Trade Commission, and an imminent antitrust bill aimed astatine the social-networking elephantine implicit mergers and acquisitions.

“Facebook has not done itself immoderate favors by continuing to tally an assertive advertisement run that proclaims it is unfastened to being subjected to caller regulations of an unspecified nature,” Ashley Baker, manager of nationalist argumentation astatine The Committee for Justice, told MarketWatch. “Given the ample fig of companies and industries that argumentation makers privation to regulate, and fixed the quality of immoderate of these proposals, it seems peculiarly unwise to gully attraction to oneself done the usage of targeted advertisements.”

For more: Facebook won’t get successful occupation for putting nett implicit people, but that is acold from the lone issue

But it is the online advertizing climate, arsenic good arsenic a caller alteration by nemesis Apple AAPL, -0.53%, that puts Facebook astatine “some of the top risk” among ample net companies heading into net season, warns Evercore ISI expert Mark Mahaney. E-commerce spending is cooling aft surging a twelvemonth ago, and determination are “underappreciated” peril connected to changes made by Apple that springiness consumers more flexibility to opt retired of advertisement targeting, according to Mahaney.

Apple’s alteration successful privateness argumentation walloped Snap’s third-quarter gross and threatens to linger astatine slightest done this year, the institution warned successful an net merchandise Thursday. Snap executives besides blamed planetary supply-chain constraints for a shortfall successful online advertising, important to its fiscal fortunes. Facebook peculiarly has been the astir vocal professional of Apple’s policy, which seems to beryllium aimed chiefly astatine Facebook.

Read more: Snap banal plummets arsenic it blames Apple for income miss, Facebook and Google besides drop

Then determination is the uncertain presumption of Facebook properties Instagram and WhatsApp, some of which are apt targets of forthcoming merger-and-acquisition authorities from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., arsenic good arsenic concerns that younger users are hemorrhaging from those services.

Facebook executives are acrophobic astir an exodus of teens from Instagram to services specified arsenic Snap Inc. SNAP, -26.59% and TikTok, the New York Times reported Saturday, citing interior documents and unnamed sources. “If we suffer the teen foothold successful the U.S. we suffer the pipeline,” according to an interior memo a twelvemonth ago.

Then determination is the six-hour outage that occurred earlier this month, which could outgo the institution millions successful fourth-quarter revenue, and could beryllium included successful the company’s forecast. If the outage’s costs are disclosed, look for it to travel from Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Wehner successful Monday’s league call.

Another firm gambit, a reported alteration of institution sanction a la Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -3.04% GOOG, -2.91%, would align Facebook’s marque sanction much toward the “metaverse” that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg envisions, and little connected its namesake societal network. Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus are besides nether the Facebook umbrella.

What to expect

Earnings: Analysts connected mean expect Facebook to study net of $3.18 a share, up from $2.71 a stock a twelvemonth ago. Contributors to Estimize — a crowdsourcing level that gathers estimates from Wall Street analysts arsenic good arsenic buy-side analysts, money managers, institution executives, academics and others — are conscionable arsenic optimistic, projecting net of $3.18 a stock connected average.

Revenue: Analysts connected mean expect Facebook to study $29.5 cardinal successful third-quarter revenue, up from $21.47 cardinal a twelvemonth ago. Estimize contributors foretell $29.5 cardinal connected average. For the September quarter, the thoroughfare has projected 2.92 cardinal monthly progressive users.

Stock movement: Facebook’s banal is up 25% truthful acold this year, portion the S&P 500 index  SPX, -0.11% has accrued 21%. However, Facebook’s banal is down 14% from aboriginal September,

What analysts are saying

RBC Capital Markets’ Brad Erickson cautions adjacent year’s online advertizing marketplace is “something of a going concern” and slackening spending this twelvemonth could pb to a 22% deceleration successful income for Facebook successful the 2nd fractional of 2021.

Inevitably, it each circles backmost to Facebook’s progressively tarnished estimation and a moneymaking instrumentality that seems to defy a increasing hostility toward the arguable level and its enforcement team.

“There are present 3 topics to beryllium avoided astatine the meal table: Politics, Religion, and Facebook,” AB Bernstein expert Mark Shmulik said successful an Oct. 8 enactment that rates institution shares an outperform with a people of $450. “Once you judge Facebook into that contentious tier, it’s casual to recognize wherefore arguments astir whether the institution is ‘evil’ oregon ‘being utilized arsenic a scapegoat’ are grounded successful emotion.”