not vested
Meta reported better than expected results for the third quarter as revenue increased 23%, the fastest rate of growth since 2021.
Earnings per share was US$4.39 vs. US$3.63 expected while revenue came in at US$34.15 billion vs. US$33.56 billion expected.
In terms of user numbers, Daily active users (DAUs) were 2.09 billion vs. 2.07 billion expected,
Monthly active users (MAUs) were 3.05 billion vs. 3.05 billion expected and Average revenue per user (ARPU) was US$11.23 vs. US$11.05 expected.
Meta is seeing faster growth in its core digital ads business as clients rebound from a tough 2022, when revenue dropped for three straight quarters.
Sales jumped from US$27.71 billion a year earlier.
Net income rose 164% to US$11.58 billion, or US$4.39 a share, from US$4.4 billion, or US$1.64 a share, a year earlier.
During the earnings call, Susan Li, Meta’s finance chief, said that online commerce was the biggest contributor to year-over-year growth in ad revenue, followed by consumer packaged goods and gaming.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that so far this year, the company has seen a 7% increase in time spent on Facebook and a 6% bump on Instagram “as a result of our recommendation improvements.”
For the fourth quarter, Meta said it expects revenue of US$36.5 billion to US$40 billion vs. expected US$38.85 billion.
At the midpoint of the range, growth in the quarter will be about 19% higher from a year earlier.
Meta said expenses for 2023 will be in the range between US$87 billion and US$89 billion, which is down from its previous forecast of US$88 billion to US$91 billion.
Expenses for 2024 will fall in the range between US$94 billion and US$99 billion.
Meta’s Reality Labs division, which focusses on virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, racked up US$3.74 billion in operating losses for the quarter. It has now lost close to US$25 billion since the start of last year.
The company said it expects Reality Labs’ operating losses “to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and our investments to further scale our ecosystem.”
Source: Phillips