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Meta reports better-than-expected results and issues optimistic guidance for third quarter 💷

Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter of 2023, leading to a 7% rise in stock in extended trading. Here are the key details:

Earnings: $2.98 per share, surpassing the expected $2.91 per share. Revenue: $32 billion, exceeding the expected $31.12 billion. Daily Active Users (DAUs): 2.06 billion, higher than the expected 2.04 billion. Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 3.03 billion, surpassing the expected 3 billion. Average Revenue per User (ARPU): $10.63, higher than the expected $10.22.

The company's revenue increased by 11% from a year earlier, marking the first time it has reported double-digit growth since the end of 2021. This growth comes after a period of declining revenue due to a struggling economy and changes to Apple's iOS privacy policies that limited ad targeting capabilities.

Meta also issued an optimistic forecast for the third quarter, expecting revenue between $32 billion and $34.5 billion, which suggests a growth of at least 15% from a year earlier. This exceeds analysts' expectations of $31.3 billion.

The company's net income rose to $7.79 billion, or $2.98 a share, from $6.69 billion, or $2.46 a share, during the year-earlier period. Total costs and expenses were $22.61 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 10% from the same period a year ago.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism about the company's future, citing strong engagement across their apps and an exciting roadmap with new products and launches planned.

The company has also been focusing on cost efficiency, resulting in about 21,000 job cuts. Despite this, Meta plans to invest more in payroll expenses as it shifts its workforce composition towards higher-cost technical roles. The Reality Labs unit, responsible for developing the metaverse, reported $276 million in sales during the second quarter while posting a loss of $3.7 billion.

cnbc.com