Meta Platforms (META) -) posted much stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings late Wednesday, thanks to a big gain in ad sales, and trimmed its near-term expense forecast as it continues to focus on group efficiency.
The Facebook parent said profits for the three months ending in March were pegged at $4.39 per share, nearly double the level from the same period last year and firmly ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $3.63 per share.
Group revenues, Meta said, rose 23.2% to $34.15 billion, nearly all of it -- $33.64 billion -- coming from the new 'Family of Apps' division the company created last year, just ahead of analysts' estimates of a $33.58 billion tally. The year-on-year revenue gain was the strongest advance since 2021.
Ad impressions rose 34%, Meta said, although the average price per ad was down 16%. Monthly active users across Meta's 'Family of Apps' was tabbed at 3.96 million, up 7% from last year, while daily active users were up 7% from last year at 3.14 billion.
Looking into the current quarter, Meta said it sees revenues in the region of $36.5 billion to $40 billion, a range that topped the Street forecast of $38 billion.
The group also narrowed its 2023 expense estimate for the third consecutive quarter to between $87 billion and $89 billion amid what Zuckerberg has described as a 'year of efficiency'. For the coming year, the group sees overall expenses in the region of $94 billion to $99 billion.
Meta also said that it expects operating losses Reality Labs, the division which houses the group's metaverse ambitions, to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and our investments to further scale our ecosystem."
"We had a good quarter for our community and business," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. "I'm proud of the work our teams have done to advance AI and mixed reality with the launch of Quest 3, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and our AI studio."
Meta Platforms shares were marked 3.5% higher in after-hours trading immediately following the earnings release to indicate an opening bell price of $309.99 each.
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