Meta Shares Soar as Earnings Beat Estimates

Meta shares rallied on Wednesday after the company released its revenue for the first quarter which came out above estimates and revived investors’ optimism regarding the future of the company in a very challenging environment.

Initially, analysts surveyed by FactSet expected net earnings to average $2.02 per share on revenue of $27.7 billion. However, (META) the parent company of Facebook jumped 12% in extended trading hours after reporting revenue of $28.64 billion, up 3% from a year earlier and topping expectations of about $27.7 billion.

This is the first sales increase in nearly a year boosted by a new restructuring of the advertising business. The company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that 2023 will be a “year of efficiency”, the main goal is to control spending and shift focus from the Metaverse to the AI industry.    

Meta Shares Soar as Earnings Beat Estimates
Below, we can see both estimates/reported EPS and Revenue of Meta:

Here, we can see important numbers following the earnings release:

  • Earnings: $2.20 per share vs. $2.03 per share expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv
  • Revenue: $28.65 billion vs. $27.65 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
  • Daily Active Users: 2.04 billion vs. 2.01 billion expected, according to StreetAccount.
  • Monthly Active Users: 2.99 billion vs 2.99 billion expected, according to StreetAccount.
  • Average Revenue per User:  $9.62 vs. $9.30 expected, according to StreetAccount.

In addition, the company’s forecast for the second quarter remains strong and could crush expectations for a second time this year.

Looking at market reaction, Meta extended its 2023 rally as shares jumped to a 14-Month high, trading at $235 in extended hours.

Meta stock lost two-thirds of its value last year, but was up 74% this year, before the release of the earnings report.

Below we can see the hourly chart of Meta:

We had a good quarter, and our community continues to grow,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. The company is “becoming more efficient so we can build better products faster and put ourselves in a stronger position to deliver our long-term vision,” he added.

It is important to note that the company has a plan to continue its series of layoffs, targeting a total of 21,000 employees which represents 20% of its working force in a continued effort to trim expenses. Also, Meta could benefit from a potential ban on the TikTok app in the US which can strengthen the position of the company, especially regarding Reels which remain the best form of short videos for the tech giant.

On the other side, Meta’s Reality Labs, the division responsible for metaverse development, recorded a US$3.99 billion operating loss in the first quarter of this year, compared to a US$2.96 billion loss in the same period last year. Meta’s CEO said that the metaverse is a long-term project and that he will remain committed to it alongside other AI-driven projects.

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