After laying off thousands of employees, Facebook parent company Meta on Wednesday reported much higher third-quarter profitability, helped by a rise in advertising revenue and fewer expenses.
The Menlo Park, California-based business reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $11.58 billion, or $4.39 per share.
This is an increase from $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, the prior year. From $27.71 billion to $34.15 billion, revenue increased by 23%. According to a FactSet poll, analysts were anticipating earnings of $3.64 per share on revenues of $33.58 billion.
Meta continues to fulfill expectations despite larger tech market volatility, according to Insider Intelligence analyst Jeremy Goldman.
“Meta is not only navigating choppy waters but also charting the course for uncharted territories of growth,” according to its steady upward trend, strong user engagement, and effective cost efficiencies.
According to Meta, which on Tuesday was sued by 41 states and the District of Columbia for endangering the mental health of children, there were 3.05 billion active Facebook users as of September 30, an increase of 3% from the previous year.
The way social media sites approach user engagement and product features may drastically change as a result of this precedent-setting litigation, according to Goldman.
That being said, Meta’s continuous performance solidifies its leadership in the digital sphere even while tech equities are experiencing uncertainties.
At the conclusion of the quarter, there were 3.96 billion monthly active users across its “family of apps,” which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, an increase of 7% from the previous quarter. On a quarterly basis, Meta does not separate its user data for apps other than Facebook.
In a conference call with investors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Meta’s Twitter-like Threads program, which debuted in July, has 100 million active monthly users.
He added that if “we keep this up for a few years,” Threads has a strong chance of becoming that app. “I thought for a long time that there should be a billion-person public conversation app that is a bit more positive,” he said.
$20.4 billion in total costs and expenses, a 7% decrease from the previous year. As of September 30, Meta reported having 66,185 employees, a 24% drop from the same period last year.
Following the release of the findings, shares of Meta Platforms Inc. increased by around 2.5% in after-hours trading. The share price dropped by $13.02, or 4.2%, to settle at $299.53.
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