Meta Platforms (FB) 02 (Jun 22 - Dec 26)

[behappyalways]

John Carmack Rage-Quits From Meta VR Project After Doomed Experience
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/joh ... experience

[winston]

not vested

5 reasons why Meta stock just caught a rare upgrade

by Brian Sozzi

Here are the five drivers of JPM's Meta upgrade:

1) Better cost controls by management on both total expenses and capital expenditures.

2) Lessening sales impact from Apple iOS privacy changes.

3) The company stands to compete more effectively against surging rival TikTok.

4) Reels monetization may gain steam and become "at least" neutral to sales in later 2023.

5) Valuation on the stock is "compelling" after the steep 2022 drop.

Source: Yahoo Finance

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reason ... ?.tsrc=372

[winston]

Meta Earmarks Bulk Spend On Facebook, Insta And WhatsApp, Remained Steady On Metaverse Expenditure Despite Concerns

by Anusuya Lahiri

Earmarking 20% of its overall costs and expenses to Reality Labs in 2023.

Reality Labs reported a loss from operations of $(9.4) billion through the first nine months of the year.

Meta's family of apps generated $32 billion in profit during that same period.

Source: Benzinga

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-ear ... 05713.html

[winston]

not vested

Mark Zuckerberg will split Meta, take the 'verse

By Lauren Silva Laughlin

Meta is expected to ink some $15 billion in free cash flow in 2022, a 60% decline from 2021.

If all the cash flow from operations went back to shareholders, representing about $18 a share, Zuckerberg would find himself with some $6 billion to reinvest in the project based on his stake.

That’s not enough given current spending plans, but a few key investors who sign on to his vision might be keen to invest alongside him.

Source: Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/m ... 022-12-21/

[winston]

not vested

Meta Platforms (META) Could Surge Higher From Here

by Tara Young

Source: Trades Of The Day

https://dailytradealert.com/2022/12/26/ ... from-here/

[behappyalways]

Facebook Parent Settles Cambridge Analytica Data Harvesting Scandal For $725 Million
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/fa ... 25-million

[winston]

not vested

Meta Platforms reported better-than-expected sales during the holiday quarter, fuelled by strong demand for advertising as it attracted more users to its Facebook social network.

Revenue for the fourth quarter was US$32.2 billion. That compared with Wall Street estimates of US$31.6 billion. Shares jumped more than 18 per cent in extended trading.

“Beyond this, our management theme for 2023 is the ‘Year of Efficiency’ and we’re focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organisation,” he said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 1).

The company is recovering from the worst year for its stock in history. Meta faced a decline in advertiser demand due to weakness in the broader economy, amid inflation and an ongoing war in Europe, as well as a change in iPhone privacy rules.

Meta cut 11,000 jobs, or 13 per cent of the workforce, in November in its first-ever major layoff. Those cuts came during a quarter that was otherwise positive for the company.

Facebook, Meta’s flagship social network, is still growing and now has more than 2 billion daily users, up more than 70 million from a year ago.

Source: Phillips

[winston]

not vested

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) – Announced Wednesday, February 1

Meta’s fourth-quarter revenue declined 4% year-over-year to $32.2 billion but did beat Wall Street consensus estimates for revenue of $31.5 billion.

Meanwhile, earnings per share fell 52% year-over-year to $1.76 per share, down from earnings of $3.67 per share in the same quarter of last year.

On a more positive note, the monthly active Facebook users rose 2% to 2.96 billion.

During the earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the time to address the difficulties of the past year, such as the massive layoffs in November. He emphasized his new management theme for 2023, the “year of efficiency,” while focusing on what the company can do now to improve productivity, speed and cost structure.

He stated:

2022 was a challenging year, but I think we ended it having made good progress on our main priorities and setting ourselves up to deliver better results this year as long as we keep pushing on efficiency.

I said last quarter that I thought our product trends look better than most of the commentary out there suggest. I think that’s even more the case now.

Looking to the first quarter of 2023, Meta Platforms anticipates revenue between $26 billion and $28.5 billion. Analysts were calling for revenue of $27.1 billion.

The company also expects expenses to be between $89 billion and $95 billion, due to “slower anticipated growth in payroll expenses and cost of revenue.”

Earnings per share are forecast to come in at $2.82, down from earnings per share of $3.53 a year ago.

Company management also revealed that it would increase its stock buyback plan by $40 billion.

Source: Market 360

[winston]

not vested

Meta Platforms Inc. – Getting a grip on expenses
PSR Recommendation: NEUTRAL
Status: Downgraded
Target Price: 182

4Q22 revenue beat expectations by 3%, with adj. earnings (excl. US$4.2bn restructuring charges) beating by 58%.

FY22 revenue/adj. PATMI at 101%/114% of our FY22e forecasts.

Committed to streamlining costs moving forward, and focusing on improving efficiencies with AI.

FY23e total expense guidance reduced by US$5bn, 5% YoY growth.

Digital advertising outlook weak, Meta guided 1Q23e revenue contraction of -2% YoY.

We downgrade to NEUTRAL with a raised DCF target price of US$182.00 (prev. US$113.00) to account for an expected 9% increase in EBITDA margins over the next 2 years due to a sharp reduction in expenses.

We cut FY23e revenue by 13% on continued uncertainty in digital advertising demand, but also reduce FY23e CAPEX by 15%, and total expenses by 9% to reflect a slowdown in expenses.

As a result, FY23e net margin is reduced to 22% (FY22: 20%).

We reduce our WACC to 7.1% to account for an increase in debt in relation to equity, and maintain our terminal growth rate of 3.5%.

Source: Phillips

https://www.stocksbnb.com/reports/meta- ... -expenses/

[behappyalways]

Prepping For More Layoffs? Meta Hands Out "Thousands" Of Poor Performance Reviews To Employees
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/prepp ... -employees