Will Facebook Start Paying a Dividend in 2018?

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has been a leader in the social-media world. The company's namesake site rose to notoriety at a transformative time for the tech industry, as mobile devices made it easier for people to stay connected to the internet consistently. Subsequent acquisitions, like Whatsapp and Oculus, have sought to extend Facebook's reach, and projects in areas like virtual reality, global connectivity, and network-hardware alternatives have the potential to push the company to the next level.

Yet one area where Facebook hasn't been a leader is in paying dividends. Tech companies, in general, were slow to embrace dividend payouts, but many of the largest players in the sector have started to make generous quarterly payments to their shareholders.

Has Facebook reached the point at which it could join that crowd and start paying a dividend? Let's take a closer look at Facebook to see whether 2018 will be the year it declares its first dividend.

Source: Fool.com