Meta stock soared Thursday after the Facebook owner easily beat Wall Street's first-quarter projections and issued bullish sales guidance.
The company also reported single-digit growth in the number of people using Facebook as well as its suite of social media products — Instagram, Messenger and/or WhatsApp — every day. Further, while the price per ad decreased in the first quarter, Meta reported 26% growth in ad impressions. An impression occurs every time an ad appears on a screen.
"We had a good quarter and our community continues to grow," Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a written statement. "Our (artificial intelligence) work is driving good results across our apps and business. We're also becoming more efficient so we can build better products faster and put ourselves in a stronger position to deliver our long-term vision."
On the stock market today, Meta stock surged 13.9% to close at 238.56. Shares recently broke out of a flat base with a buy point at 197.26, according to MarketSmith.com. Thursday's action put Meta stock closer to a profit-taking zone.
Meta Stock: Social Media Grows
During the March quarter, Meta earned $2.20 per share and reported $28.65 billion in sales. The social media giant's earnings fell 19% year over year, but sales crept 3% higher.
Both measures beat expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Meta earnings of $2.02 per share and $27.67 billion in sales.
The company reported 5% growth in the number of people who use Meta's social apps every day and every month — 3.02 billion and 3.81 billion people, respectively. Daily and monthly Facebook users increased a respective 4% and 2% to 2.04 billion and 2.99 billion.
For the second quarter, Meta guided to $29.5 billion to $32 billion in sales. Meta stock analysts projected $29.45 billion in sales.
Meta shares also have a strong Relative Strength Rating of 96 out of a best-possible 99. This puts them in the top 4% of all stocks when it comes to 12-month performance, according to IBD Digital.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
