Tech giant company Meta, has reported its fourth quarter (Q4) earnings report for 2024, surpassing analysts expectations.
Meta reported a revenue of $48.39 and $164. 50 billion vs $47.04 billion expected by analysts. The revenue represent increase of 21% and 22% year-over-year for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively.
Shares of Meta rose nearly 5% in extended trading Wednesday. The company gained about 73% over the past through Wednesday’s close, setting a record high for the fifth-straight season.
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Other Financial Highlights Include;
Costs and expenses – Total costs and expenses were $25.02 billion and $95.12 billion, representing increases of 5% and 8% year-over-year for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively. The fourth quarter costs and expenses included a favorable impact of $1.55 billion due to a decrease in the accrued losses for certain legal proceedings.
Capital expenditures – Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $14.84 billion and $39.23 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively.
Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities – Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $77.81 billion as of December 31, 2024. Free cash flow was $13.15 billion and $52.10 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively.
Capital return program – Share repurchases of our Class A common stock were nil and $29.75 billion, and total dividend and dividend equivalent payments
were $1.27 billion and $5.07 billion for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively.
Ad impressions – Ad impressions delivered across our Family of Apps increased by 6% and 11% year-over-year for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, respectively.
Advertising Revenue- Advertising Revenue climbed nearly 21% to $46.78 billion, compared to estimates of $45.46 billion, as the company said it made progress with its AI plans. Meta said it anticipates first-quarter revenue of between $39.5 billion to $41.8 billion, with analysts expecting about $41.65 billion.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on a call with investors lauded Trump’s administration for backing Silicon Valley, adding that 2025 will be big for redefining the company’s relationship with governments.
In his words,
“We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad. I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock, so this is going to be a big year.”
The company’s Meta AI chatbot surpassed 700 million monthly active users, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li told analysts. That is up from 600 million in December. Zuckerberg said he expects Meta Al to reach one billion users this year.
“Once a service reaches that kind of scale, it usually develops a durable, long-term advantage,” Zuckerberg told analysts on Wednesday. Meta noted plans to make $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year, as the tech giant expands its Al efforts.
“We continue to make good progress on Al, glasses, and the future of social media,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a release, adding, “I’m excited to see these efforts scale further in 2025.”
The company along with its tech peers faces intense pressure to show the billions of dollars it is spending on Al will be worth the costs. Notably, Meta in its earnings report expects full year 2025 total expenses to be in the range of $114- $119 billion. The company expect the single largest driver of expense growth in 2025 to be infrastructure cost, driven by higher operating expenses and depreciation.
It further added that it expects employee compensation to be the second-largest factor as it adds technical talent in the priority areas of infrastructure, monetization, Reality Labs, generative artificial intelligence (AI) as well as regulation and compliance.