Meta Platforms Surges on Strong Beat, Forecast

Meta Platforms (META:US) shares opened more than 8% higher on Thursday after the social media giant reported second-quarter results that easily beat analyst expectations.

The company reported earnings per share of $2.98 on revenue of $32 billion, easily ahead of the consensus for revenue of $31.06 billion. Sales jumped 11% year-over-year as advertising revenue jumped 12% YoY to $31.50 billion. Meta credited improved Reels monetization for strong Q2 performance. 

"We had a good quarter. We continue to see strong engagement across our apps and we have the most exciting roadmap I've seen in a while with Llama 2, Threads, Reels, new AI products in the pipeline, and the launch of Quest 3 this fall," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO.

Facebook saw its numbers of daily active users (DAUs) and monthly active users (MAUs) exceed 2 billion and 3 billion, respectively, both topping analyst expectations. 

The stock was boosted by a very strong outlook with Meta saying it expects to generate between $32 billion and $34.5 billion in Q3 revenue while analysts were looking for just $31.18 billion.

The company also lowered its CapEx outlook to $27-30 billion from the prior $30 billion to $33 billion, saying it pushed back some of its capital-heavy projects to 2024. On the other hand, its expenses forecast was upped by $2 billion due to “legal-related” costs, mostly associated with massive job cuts announced this year. 

Following Thursday’s rally, Meta shares are now trading comfortably above $300 apiece. This is rather unfortunate for Rep. Michael McCaul, who disclosed last week he was selling Meta stock on June 08, when it closed at $264.58.