Meta Posts Better-Than-Expected Q4 Earnings

Meta announced that it earned a net income of $4.7 billion on revenues of $32.2 billion in the quarter ending December 31. Net income was down 55 percent year-over-year (YOY) and revenue dropped by 4 percent, but the results were much better than expected and its stock soared almost 20 percent in after-hours trading.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, also posted its annual earnings, with a net income of $23.2 billion (down 41 percent) on revenues of $116.6 billion (down 1 percent).

“Our community continues to grow, and I’m pleased with the strong engagement across our apps,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. ” Facebook just reached the milestone of 2 billion daily active [users]. The progress we’re making on our AI discovery engine and Reels are major drivers of this. Beyond this, our management theme for 2023 is the ‘Year of Efficiency’ and we’re focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization.”

Meta also revealed that it took a $4.2 billion restructuring charge related to severance for 11,000 laid-off employees, the early termination of some office space leases, and datacenter project redesigns. It will take a further $1 billion in restructuring charges this year.

Meta said that it expects revenue in the current quarter to land somewhere between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, in line with expectations.