Meta Platforms Inc saw shares skyrocket 18 percent on Wednesday following first quarter (Q1) earnings report, global media reported on Thursday.
Meta earned $2.72 USD compared to its estimated earnings per share of $2.56, CNBC reported, citing a Refinitiv analysts survey, which also estimated the firm’s revenues to hit $30.6 billion, up from initial $28 billion to $30 billion forecasts.
According to its earnings report, Meta’s daily active users (DAUs) also topped 1.96 billion, higher than its’ expected 1.95 billion and up from 1.93 the previous quarter.
Despite this, stocks for the Menlo Park-based firm remain much lower for the year, namely after fourth quarter (Q4) results saw its shares and profits plummet 26 percent due to a nearly $10 billion profit loss triggered by increased research and development (R&D) spending, according to company executives.
CNBC added that a 19.1 percent jump in stocks by Thursday could see the tech giant reach its second-highest performing day ever and largest increase in profits since July 2013.
The Meta earnings call was today and Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook going over what was said. Here is what he said about VR and Cambria. pic.twitter.com/quM6XTkSKz
— Matt – BMFVR (@bmfshow) April 27, 2022
Meta Platforms said in its earnings report,
“This outlook reflects a continuation of the trends impacting revenue growth in the first quarter, including softness in the back half of the first quarter that coincided with the war in Ukraine […] we continue to monitor developments regarding the viability of transatlantic data transfers and their potential impact on our European operations, and we are pleased with the progress on a political agreement”
Speaking to analysts at the meeting, Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s Chief Operating Officer, added,
“We think while these times are challenging, over the long run, we do have a very strong competitive advantage when you look across the opportunities advertisers have to advertise both offline and online”
Ongoing Developments
The news comes just days after the Metaverse firm revealed it had opened a physical store in California to showcase its Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headsets and Portal smart devices. Its move to brick and mortar stores aimed to attract users by offering firsthand immersive experiences and access to products.
The developments also follow struggles with an ongoing data transfer pact with the European Union (EU), which the latter initially said it may not support, citing privacy concerns.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Chief Executive and Founder, said his firm could pull out of the EU if it failed to back the transfer agreement, despite pledging to hire 10,000 European staff to expand its Metaverse plans globally.
In March, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) also slapped Meta Platforms with a €17 million fine after it said the Metaverse firm failed to sufficiently shield users’ data from harm.
A Meta spokesperson responded at the time,
“This fine is about record-keeping practices from 2018 that we have since updated, not a failure to protect people’s information. We take our obligations under the GDPR seriously, and will carefully consider this decision as our processes continue to evolve”
The DPC cited allegations of 12 data breaches from June to December 2018, violating terms in the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and triggering Article 60 of the legislation.
