Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.’s stock soared 12% after hours Thursday on a surge in quarterly digital-advertising sales, and big beats on revenue and earnings.
The company’s board of directors also declared their first cash dividend of 50 cents a share, payable March 26.
Meta
META,
reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $14.02 billion, or $5.33 a share, compared with net income of $4.65 billion, or $1.76 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue expanded 25% to $40.11 billion from $32.2 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average net income of $4.82 a share on revenue of $39.1 billion.
A bounce-back in advertising, the continued monetization of Instagram and Reels, and AI-fueled ad-targeting and measurement contributed to the quarter’s performance. Meta’s exemplary performance comes two days after a similarly strong quarter from Google parent Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL,
“We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow,” Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement announcing the results. “We’ve made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse.”
Meta executives forecast first-quarter revenue of between $34.5 billion and $37 billion, while analysts on average were expecting $33.9 billion, according to FactSet.
Facebook had 2.11 billion daily active users, up 6% from a year ago, and monthly active users improved 3% to 3.07 billion.
The company’s year of efficiency also seems to have paid off: Headcount was slashed 22% to 67,317 in 2023.
Meta’s stock improved 1.2% to $394.78 in Thursday’s regular session. The stock has catapulted 109% over the past 12 months, while the broader S&P 500 index
SPX
has increased 17%.
