Meta Platforms Inc. (FB), the renamed Facebook, reports revenue of US$27.9 billion.
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB), the renamed Facebook, released its financials for the first quarter of 2022, reporting revenues of US$27.9 billion, +7% higher compared to last year’s US$26.1 billion for the same period. This was just short of analyst’s estimate of US$28.2 billion (-1%), and below last quarter’s revenue of US$33 billion (-17%). All segments showed increased revenue year-on-year, including advertising US$27 billion (+6.1%) and Reality Labs US$695 million (+30%). Family of Apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp totaled US$27.1 billion. Net income for the quarter was US$7.46 billion, compared to US$9.49 billion last year (-21%), and falling short of analyst estimates of US$7.58 billion (-1.47%).
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on the company’s recent growth:
“We made progress this quarter across a number of key company priorities and we remain confident in the long-term opportunities and growth that our product roadmap will unlock,”.
The company has seen an increase in user engagement, with Facebook daily active users increasing by 4% over the year to 1.96 billion, and family daily active people (described as users of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) by 6% annualised to 2.87 billion. Mr. Zuckerberg stated:
“More people use our services today than ever before, and I’m proud of how our products are serving people around the world.”
The company’s CFO David M. Wehner highlighted the impact of ongoing geopolitical tensions on the company’s revenue, including the war in Ukraine. The company shared guidance for next quarter’s revenue to be between US$28-30 billion, with analyst estimates for revenue at US$30.7 billion and net income at US$8.3 billion.
Earnings per share (EPS) were US$2.72 this quarter, beating analyst estimates by US$0.17. This is -26% lower than last quarter’s EPS of US$3.72 and -17% lower than last year’s EPS of US$3.34 for the same period. FB had repurchased US$9.39 billion of Class A common stock in the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s share price rose as much as 11% in after-market trading on Wednesday to $207.15. As the chart depicts, the share price has fallen -43% from last year’s high of US$307.10 to its current share price of US$174.95. The majority of analysts covering the stock have a positive outlook with 70% recommending the stock as a buy, 25% recommending to hold, and 5% recommending to sell, with a consensus share price over the next twelve months at US$311.43.
