iWorld
Facebook rev, net income up in first quarter on higher mobile ad revenue
BENGALURU: Facebook Inc., (FB) reported 51.1 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in ad revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 (Q1-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. Facebook in its earnings release says that Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 85 percent of advertising revenue for Q1-17, up from approximately 82 percent of advertising revenue in Q1-16. The social media giant reported ad revenue of $7,857 million in the current quarter as compared to revenue of $5,201 million in Q1-16. a
Total revenue however increased 49.2 percent y-o-y due to a decline of US$ 6 million (about 3.3 percent decline) in payments and other fees in the current quarter vis-à-vis the year ago quarter. FB reported total revenue of $8,032 million in Q1-17 as compared to $5,382 million in Q1-16.
Net income in Q1-17 increased 76.3 percent to $3,064 million (38 percent profit margin) as compared to $1,738 million (32 percent profit margin) in the year ago quarter.
Total cost and expenses increased 39.5 percent y-o-y to $4,705 million in the current quarter from $3,372 million in Q1-16. FB says that capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2017 were $1.27 billion.
“We had a good start to 2017,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We’re continuing to build tools to support a strong global community.”
The company says that Daily active users (DAUs) – DAUs were 1.28 billion on average for March 2017, an increase of 18 percent y-o-y. Monthly active users (MAUs) – MAUs were 1.94 billion as of March 31, 2017, an increase of 17 percent y-o-y.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
