Meta Platforms Inc on Wednesday posted sharply higher profit and revenue for the final quarter of last year, thanks to higher ad revenue on its social media properties, sending its shares up in after-hours trading even as it forecast increasing expenses on its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he expects this year to “be the year when a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant reaches more than 1 billion people, and I expect Meta AI to be that leading AI assistant.”
The company earned US$20.83 billion in the October-December quarter. That is up 49 percent from US$14.02 billion in the same period a year earlier. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp saw its net income soar 59 percent to US$62.36 billion for the full year.
Photo: Bloomberg
Revenue grew 21 percent to US$48.39 billion from US$40.11 billion in the fourth quarter, and 22 percent to US$164.5 billion last year, boosted by advertising performance as ad prices rose 10 percent and impressions increased 11 percent across its platforms.
For the current quarter, Meta said expects revenue of US$39.5 billion to US$41.8 billion. Analysts are expecting revenue at the high end of that range — US$41.68 billion.
The company also said it expects expenses in the range of US$114 billion to US$119 billion, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation. Meta had 74,067 employees as of Dec. 31, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
“By beating both earnings and revenue estimates, they’ve demonstrated that cost discipline and efficiency gains are paying dividends,” Investing.com analyst Jesse Cohen said. “However, the real headline is their commitment to aggressive capital expenditures. This signals Meta is doubling down on its AI infrastructure and metaverse ambitions, even as investors grapple with the costs.”
Separately, Meta has agreed to pay roughly US$25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit that US President Donald Trump brought against the company and Zuckerberg after Trump’s accounts were suspended following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“This is also going to be a big year for redefining our relationship with governments,” Zuckerberg said in a conference call with analysts. “We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad. And I’m optimistic about the progress and innovation this is going to unlock.”
Meta’s stock rose 2 percent to US$690.02 in after-hours trading.
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