Meta Platforms Surges 15% on Robust Results

Shares of Meta Platforms (META:US) rose as much as 15% on Thursday after the Facebook parent offered a strong Q2 revenue forecast.

The company’s cost reductions are now yielding results as revenue trends are improving, despite still-heavy investments in artificial intelligence (AI) products.

"[We] have substantially completed the 2022 employee layoffs while continuing to assess facilities consolidation and data center restructuring initiatives," the company said.

Meta said its revenue jumped 3% YoY to $28.65 billion as advertising revenue - the company’s main source of income - jumped 4.1% YoY to $28.1 billion. 

Reality Labs - the metaverse-focused business unit - saw its revenue fall 51% YoY. The segment reported a $3.99 billion loss as Meta continues with aggressive metaverse investments.

On a more positive note, Facebook daily active users (DAUs) were reported at 2.04 billion, beating the 2.01 billion consensus. Monthly active users (MAUs) came in at 2.99 billion, just below the 3 billion consensus. 

For this quarter, Meta said it sees revenue between $29.5 billion to $32 billion, ahead of the $29.5 billion consensus. For FY23, the social media giant now expects total expenses to come in at $88 billion, better than the prior forecast of $89 billion.

“Our guidance assumes foreign currency headwinds will be less than 1% to year-over-year total revenue growth in the second quarter, based on current exchange rates,” Meta added.

Thursday’s rally means that Meta stock doubled since the start of 2023. As such, it punished sellers, like Rep. Michael McCaul, who rushed too early to close winning trades. The Congressmen reported two transactions, both dated February 09 when the Meta stock closed at $177.92.

For comparison purposes, Meta shares are exchanging hands on Thursday at prices around $240 apiece. 

On the other hand, Congress members like Ro Khanna and Diana Harshbarger were both buying the Meta stock in recent months.