Published , by Chris Jarrard
Published , by Chris Jarrard
Earlier today, social media giant Facebook (FB) released its Q3 2021 financial report to investors. Among the highlights of the information included in the report, the company managed to exceed its earnings per share target of $3.22 by $0.05 despite failing to meet its expected revenue target by roughly half a billion dollars.
The earnings report came a few hours after Facebook once again came under intense scrutiny from the public and press following the release of internal company documents tied directly to the claims made by whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former employee of the social media titan.
While Facebook managed to beat its earnings per share target in light of falling revenue, those results were a product of multiple factors, not the least of which was a massive stock buyback in Q3 2021. In the earnings report, Facebook said it had repurchased $14.37 billion of its Class A common stock during the quarter. These transactions represent a bit more than one percent of all available shares.
Facebook’s massive stock buyback is sure to raise some eyebrows against reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been unloading his personal shares in the company since November of 2020. Between November 2020 and the end of July 2021, Zuckerberg sold off nearly $3 billion worth of Facebook shares.
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