LIVE: Here comes Facebook's Q2 earnings

Charles Platiau/Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately.

On Wednesday, the California company is making headlines for a different reason: It is announcing its Q2 2018 financial results after markets close.

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Business Insider is covering the earnings live, so refresh this page or click here for the latest updates.

Here are the key numbers that Wall Street is expecting for the quarter, via Bloomberg:

• Revenues of $13.3 billion.
• GAAP Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $1.71
• Operating profit of $5.5 billion

Facebook has had a bruising few months, from ongoing fallout from the spread of Russian propaganda to the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and fierce controversy over whether fake news and disinformation should be allowed on the site.

But this hasn't put off investors. Its stock reached all-time-highs of more than $216 on Wednesday ahead of its earnings announced. And analysts predicted a booming quarter for the company, based off the runaway success of Instagram and continued strength in its core advertising business.

The quarter would be, market-research firm GBH Insights said, a "pivotal barometer" to assess any long-term damage to Facebook's business from Cambridge Analytica and other data privacy worries.

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