Social media platform and metaverse company Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) reported third-quarter financial results after the market close Wednesday. Here are the key highlights.
What Happened: Meta Platforms reported third-quarter revenue of $27.71 billion, a 4% decline year-over-year. The revenue came in ahead of a Street estimate of $27.53 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company reported earnings per share of $1.64 in the third quarter, which came in shy of $1.91 target from analysts.
Meta Platforms reported 1.98 billion daily active users for Facebook, up 3% year-over-year. Monthly active users were 2.96 billion for Facebook, up 2% year-over-year.
Meta Platforms saw its daily active people metric for its family of products hit 2.93 billion in September, up 4% year-over-year. Monthly active people for the company’s family of products was 3.71 billion in September, up 4% year-over-year.
The company saw ad impressions increase 17% year-over-year and reported the average price per ad was down 18% year-over-year.
“Our community continues to grow and I’m pleased with the strong engagement we’re seeing driven by progress on our discovery engine and products like Reels,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Related Link: How To Trade Meta Platforms Stock Heading Into Q3 Earnings
What’s Next For Meta: The company is guiding for fourth-quarter revenue in a range of $30 billion to $32.5 billion versus a Street estimate of $32.3 billion, according to Benzina Pro.
Meta Platforms said it is reducing headcount in some areas of the company and growing headcount in only in the area of its “highest priorities.”
“We have increased scrutiny on all areas of operating expenses. However, these moves follow a substantial investment cycle so they will take time to play out in terms of our overall expense trajectory,” the company said.
Total expenses are expected to be in a range of $85 billion to $87 billion for the full fiscal year, down from a prior range of $85 billion to $88 billion.
Fiscal 2023 expenses are expected to be in range of $96 billion to $101 billion. Included in the 2023 costs are expenses related to Reality Labs, which is expected to see losses “grow significantly” in the next fiscal year.
“While we face near-term challenges on revenue, the fundamentals are there for a return to strong revenue growth. We’re approaching 2023 with a focus on prioritization and efficiency that will help us navigate the current environment and emerge an even stronger company,” Zuckerberg said.
META Price Action: Meta shares are down 12% to $113.88 in after-hours trading Wednesday, adding to a 6% decline for shares during the regular trading session.
Read analyst ratings on Meta here.
Photo via Shutterstock.
