Facebook quarterly profit hits twofold as users continue to grow
2 min readThe mammoth social media platform, Facebook, has doubled its quarterly profit as its users swelled during the past year to a user base of nearly 1.6 billion.
Facebook reported a profit of $1.56 billion in the final three months of 2015 as compared with making $701 million in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter that ended on December 31 rose to $5.84 billion from $3.85 billion the prior year.
“2015 was a great year for Facebook. Our community continued to grow and our business is thriving,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “We continue to invest in better serving our community, building our business, and connecting the world.”
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Summary | |||||||
Three Months Ended December 31, |
Year Ended December 31, |
||||||
In millions, except percentages and per share amounts |
2015 |
2014 |
2015 |
2014 |
|||
Revenue |
$ 5,841 |
$ 3,851 |
$ 17,928 |
$ 12,466 |
|||
Income from Operations |
|||||||
GAAP |
$ 2,560 |
$ 1,133 |
$ 6,225 |
$ 4,994 |
|||
Non-GAAP* |
$ 3,523 |
$ 2,219 |
$ 10,001 |
$ 7,207 |
|||
Operating Margin |
|||||||
GAAP |
44% |
29% |
35% |
40% |
|||
Non-GAAP* |
60% |
58% |
56% |
58% |
|||
Net Income |
|||||||
GAAP |
$ 1,562 |
$ 701 |
$ 3,688 |
$ 2,940 |
|||
Non-GAAP* |
$ 2,265 |
$ 1,518 |
$ 6,518 |
$ 4,713 |
|||
Diluted Earnings per Share (EPS) |
|||||||
GAAP |
$ 0.54 |
$ 0.25 |
$ 1.29 |
$ 1.10 |
|||
Non-GAAP* |
$ 0.79 |
$ 0.54 |
$ 2.28 |
$ 1.77 |
|||
* |
Non-GAAP financial measures exclude amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses. Non-GAAP net income and EPS also exclude the income tax effects of these non-GAAP adjustments. See the table below titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Results to Nearest GAAP Measures.” |
Full Year 2015 Business Highlights
- Revenue– Revenue for the full year 2015 was $17.93 billion, an increase of 44% year-over-year.
- Income from operations– Income from operations for the full year 2015 was $6.23 billion.
- Net income– Net income for the full year 2015 was $3.69 billion.
- Free cash flow– Free cash flow for the full year 2015 was $6.08 billion.
- Daily active users (DAUs)– DAUs were 1.04 billion on average for December 2015, an increase of 17% year-over-year.
- Mobile DAUs– Mobile DAUs were 934 million on average for December 2015, an increase of 25% year-over-year.
- Monthly active users (MAUs)– MAUs were 1.59 billion as of December 31, 2015, an increase of 14% year-over-year.
- Mobile MAUs– Mobile MAUs were 1.44 billion as of December 31, 2015, an increase of 21% year-over-year.