Meta Platforms reported its third-quarter earnings on October 25, reporting its biggest quarterly revenue since going public more than a decade ago, thanks to accelerating advertising demand, cost-cutting policies, and new AI technology.

Meta's revenue increased more than 23% year over year to $34.1 billion. This was the third consecutive quarter of revenue growth for Meta. Last quarter's increase was also the largest in two years. The company's net income also doubled year over year to nearly $11.6 billion.

Advertising accounted for 98.5% of Meta’s revenue in the third quarter, at $33.6 billion. Meta said average ad prices fell 6% year over year, though that was a slowdown from the 18% decline in the third quarter of 2022.

Facebook's daily active users increased from 2.06 billion in the second quarter to 2.09 billion in the third quarter. Analysts had forecast 2.07 billion.

Meta’s business performance this year is a complete reversal from last year, with investors happy with the company’s improved targeting and advances in artificial intelligence. The recovery in advertising is key for Meta, after Apple’s privacy overhaul in 2021 wiped out $10 billion from Meta’s revenue in 2022.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said AI will be the area they invest most heavily in by 2024. To avoid massive hiring, they plan to transfer employees from other projects.

Meta shares rose 4% in after-hours trading after the report was released. The stock has gained 140% year to date.

Meta is the third major U.S. tech company to report earnings this week. Microsoft and Alphabet both reported strong earnings, with Alphabet benefiting from advertising revenue and Microsoft seeing better-than-expected growth in its cloud business.

Ha Thu (according to WSJ, CNN)