Facebook is planning to change the way it reports user metrics, no longer giving results just for the social media site, but also including Instagram and WhatsApp, according to a report from CNBC.
The company, in an earnings call on Wednesday (Jan. 31), said it will report metrics in what it calls its “Family” of apps.
“For the time being, we will continue to disclose both set of numbers,” Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said on the call. “But over time, we expect Family metrics will play the primary role in how we talk about our company, and we will eventually phase out Facebook-only community metrics.”
Facebook stocks were seemingly unaffected by the news, as they grew more than 12 percent on Thursday (Jan. 31), and analysts overall were very happy with the earnings report. The company beat estimates on revenue, earnings per share and average revenue per user. The report also showed some user growth.
Not everyone, however, was happy with the news.
“We are not supportive of this move, as these figures will be primarily driven by the lower-monetising [sic] messaging apps,” Atlantic Equities wrote in a note on Thursday. “But we can see the rationale, particularly given the growing importance of Instagram.”
Apple made a similar move when it said it wasn’t going to report iPhone unit sales, which for a long time had been an important metric for investors. At first, analysts thought this was an admission of weak iPhone sales, but Apple’s strong Services revenue showed investors that the overall business is strong.
Facebook, like Apple, wants to show investors there are other, more important metrics to watch, especially highlighting Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook also has plans to consolidate all three services onto one messaging platform, which might allow for a better opportunity to monetize the platforms.
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