Facebook earnings Q1 2019

Shu Zhang | Reuters

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg meets Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma (not pictured), at the China Development Forum in Beijing, China, March 19, 2016. 

Investors are waiting to see how Facebook is preparing for its shift toward a focus on privacy when it releases its latest earnings.

Facebook is expected to report its first-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Here’s what analysts expect:

• Earnings: $1.63 per share, forecast by Refinitiv
• Revenue: $14.98 billion, forecast by Refinitiv
• Daily active users: 1.56 billion, forecast by FactSet
• Monthly active users: 2.37 billion, forecast by FactSet
• Average revenue per user: $6.39, forecast by FactSet

First-quarter EPS estimates are down 3.5% year-over-year. Last quarter, Facebook beat revenue estimates and met global daily active user estimates. The company advised it expected revenue deceleration for the first quarter of 2019 and full-year expenses to jump between 40% and 50% compared to full year 2018.

The company is undergoing a major transition from News Feed ads as it grows ad revenue from its newer Stories products. Already, Facebook-owned Instagram claims to have 500 million daily Stories users.

In a March memo, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that the future of the company will be “private, encrypted services.” The company is working to integrate the messaging functions of WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, and Zuckerberg said he expects “Messenger and WhatsApp to become the main ways people communicate on the Facebook network.” Investors will be looking for signs it can shift its business to focus more on privacy while continuing to grow revenue and users.

Facebook shares are up more than 35% in 2019.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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