meta Shares surged in extended trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and announced a $40 billion share buyback.
- Earnings: $1.76 per share
- Earnings: $31.53 billion expected to reach $32.17 billion, according to Refinitiv
The company also reported restructuring charges for its App Family segment and Reality Labs unit of $3.76 billion and $440 million, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2022. These costs make it difficult to compare his earnings per share for the company to analyst estimates of his $2.22. per share.
Other important numbers are:
- Daily Active User (DAU): 2 billion vs. 1.99 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
- Monthly Active User (MAU): 2.96 billion vs. 2.98 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
- Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): $10.86 vs $10.63 Estimates According to StreetAccount
Fourth quarter sales declined 4% year-over-year, marking the third consecutive quarter of sales declines. The company’s costs and spending rose 22% year over year to his $25.8 billion.
UK’s Anwar Almojarkesh (left) and Alan Chalabi (right) pose for a photo at Meta’s (formerly Facebook) headquarters in Menlo Park, California, November 9, 2022.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
Meta said it expects first-quarter revenue to be between $26 billion and $28.5 billion. Analysts had expected sales of $27.1 billion, according to Refinitv. In the first quarter of 2021, he had $27.9 billion in sales. The company could end its streak of year-over-year declines if the meta hits the upper end of its guidance range.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement, “Our community continues to grow and we are pleased with the strong engagement across our apps. Year of Efficiency” and is focused on becoming a stronger, more agile organization.”
Meta said that as of December 31, 2022, its headcount increased by 20% year-on-year to 86,482 people. Said It will be laid off in November last year.
The company expects total costs in 2023 to be in the range of $89 billion to $95 billion, which is lower than its previous guidance of $94 billion to $100 billion for the full year. Meta attributes the adjustment to “expected slower growth in labor and revenue costs.”
Meta also said it would lower its capital expenditure estimate for this year to a range of $30 billion to $33 billion, and from $34 billion to $37 billion. One reason, he said, is that the company has spent less on building data centers. Instead, Meta says it’s moving to a different kind of data center architecture that aims to be more cost-effective while serving as the backbone for various artificial intelligence projects.
Meta said Wednesday it has approved a $40 billion increase to its share buyback plan. The company bought back $27.9 billion worth of its stock last year.
Earlier this week, Snap reported Earnings in the fourth quarter It missed a sale and caused its stock to tumble. While Snap is much smaller than Meta, it faces the same challenges, including slowing online ad spend, increased competition from TikTok, and a weakened targeted advertising system with Apple’s 2021 iOS privacy update.
alphabet When Amazon collect the revenue report from major online advertising platforms on Thursday, followed by Pinterest next week.
Meta’s stock plunged more than 60% last year pivot the company To the world of the metaverse that has not yet developed. Zuckerberg said the metaverse, which includes virtual and augmented reality technology, could be the next major way people interact.
Investors worry the company is putting too much focus on futuristic initiatives, even as its core advertising business struggles to return to growth. Meta’s Reality Labs division, home of Metaverse ambitions, saw him lose $4.28 billion in the fourth quarter, bringing its total operating loss for the year to his $13.72 billion.
Meta said last year that “Reality Labs’ operating loss in 2023 will increase significantly year-over-year.”
