Facebook forecasts Q4 revenue below estimates as Apple's privacy rules bite

Facebook Inc on Monday warned that Apple Inc's new privacy rules would weigh on its digital business in the current quarter, after the social media company reported quarterly revenue below market expectations.

The company expects fourth-quarter revenue to be in a range of $31.5 billion to $34 billion. Analysts had forecast $34.84 billion in revenue, or a 24.1% jump, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Its third-quarter revenue too faced the brunt of Apple's privacy rules that kept digital advertisers from using its ad services.

Facebook said that starting in the fourth quarter of 2021, it would break out Facebook Reality Labs (FRL), the part of its business that works on augmented and virtual reality, as a separate reporting segment from its family of apps.

Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said Facebook expected its investment in FLR to reduce its overall operating profit in 2021 by approximately $10 billion.

Shares of the California-based company were up 0.7% in extended trading.

The company's total revenue, which primarily consists of ad sales, rose to $29.01 billion in the third quarter from $21.47 billion a year earlier, missing analysts' estimates of $29.57 billion.