Meta Platforms Inc. posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter results on Wednesday fueled by its advertising revenue growth and its push to incorporate artificial intelligence.
But the Instagram and Facebook parent company warned that it expects a “significant acceleration” in infrastructure spending next year as it continues to pour money into developing AI.
Nearly all of Meta's revenue comes from advertising on its platforms, so a slight shortfall in user numbers also put a dent in an otherwise strong quarter. Meta said it's “family daily active people” — that is the number of users who signed into at least one of its apps (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatApp and Threads) in a day — was 3.29 billion on average for September. Analysts had expected 3.31 billion.
“The miss in its user metric, daily active people, is concerning, as Meta will need to squeeze more revenue out of its existing users as growth slows," said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. She added, though, that the company is in a good position to do so “as its AI-powered tools are boosting engagement by helping show users more of what they like and making its ads, particularly on Reels, more effective.”
For the three months ended on Sept. 30, the Menlo Park, California-based company earned $15.69 billion, or $6.03 per share, up 35% from $11.58 billion, or $4.39 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 19% to $40.59 billion from $34.15 billion.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $5.22 per share on revenue of $40.21 billion, according to FactSet Research.
“We had a good quarter driven by AI progress across our apps and business,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses.”
For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue of $45 billion to $48 billion. Analysts are expecting $46.18 billion.
“Meta’s solid quarter adds further evidence to the view that digital advertisers are choosing to spend their budget on the so-called market leaders, such as Facebook and Instagram, at the expense of the smaller social media networks, like Snap," said Investing.com analyst Jesse Cohen.
Cohen added that while AI is “clearly driving growth” at Meta, "investors appear to be disappointed over the company’s forward guidance and rising costs needed to develop AI features.”
Meta said it expects 2024 operating losses at its Reality Labs segment — which includes its virtual- and augmented-reality glasses — will “increase meaningfully” due to product development costs and other investments. Last Month, Meta teased a prototype for Orion, the holographic augmented reality glasses it's been working on for a decade. But Orion doesn't have a release date yet, in large part because it is currently so expensive to make. Zuckerberg called it a “glimpse of the future.”
Meta's shares slipped about 3% in after-market trading following the earnings report.
FILE - Mark Zuckerberg wears a pair of Orion AR glasses during the Meta Connect conference on Sept. 25, 2024, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
TOKYO (AP) — A standoff between rival government forces outside the presidential compound in South Korea has been a startling development, even for observers used to the country's famously rough and tumble politics.
For weeks, impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has remained in his compound and refused to respond to detention and search warrants. Scuffles broke out late last week as dozens of investigators were stopped from entering the compound by hundreds of presidential security guards and a barricade.
The spectacle followed Yoon's astonishing decision last month to impose martial law during a seemingly routine impasse with the opposition, which dominates parliament.
Here's a closer view of recent events as well as South Korea's tempestuous political history, which has seen presidents toppled, arrested, jailed and shamed as millions have taken to the streets in protest.
A government agency dedicated to fighting corruption was debating with police more forceful measures to detain Yoon. Dozens of investigators from the agency and police failed last week to bring Yoon into custody following a standoff with his security service.
Court warrants have been issued to detain Yoon and to search his residence. The warrants were set to expire on Monday but the anti-corruption agency requested a new warrant aiming to extend the window for Yoon's detention.
Yoon has been refusing to appear for questioning over his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3.
He has described his power grab as a necessary act of governance against a liberal opposition that has bogged down his agenda with its legislative majority. He has vowed to “fight to the end” against efforts to oust him.
Martial law lasted only a few hours, but the country’s politics, diplomacy and financial markets have been shaken for weeks. The decree also exposed South Korea’s deeply polarized society.
Yoon’s lawyers on Monday filed complaints with public prosecutors against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and six other anti-corruption and police officers for orchestrating Friday’s detainment attempt, which they say was illegal.
Yoon's declaration of martial law unleashed a string of political aftershocks.
The anti-corruption agency, which is leading a joint investigation with police and the military, has been weighing charges of rebellion after Yoon declared martial law and dispatched troops to surround parliament. Lawmakers who managed to get past the blockade voted to lift martial law hours later.
Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after parliament voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. The Constitutional Court has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.
About 150 investigators tried to get Yoon on Friday in a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.
After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (220 yards) of Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade of around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops.
In a statement, Park Jong-joon, chief of the presidential security service, hit back against criticism that his organization has become Yoon’s private army, saying it has a legal obligation to protect the incumbent president.
Yoon’s lawyers said they plan to file complaints against about 150 anti-corruption and police investigators who were involved in Friday’s detention attempt.
The why is incredibly tricky.
But a mix of history and geography have something to do with it.
The Koreas have been sandwiched between big powers for millennia, with China, Russia, Japan and the United States all playing parts of a great global game on the peninsula that extends from the east coast of Asia.
South Korea is deeply split, with the divisions reaching into many parts of life, from culture to class to gender to politics.
Much of the deep political divide can be traced to what happened at the end of World War II, when U.S. and Soviet forces met in the middle of the Korean Peninsula and agreed to divide the land into Washington and Moscow-backed spheres of influence. This solidified into independent rival Koreas in 1948 and then exploded into war and permanent division in 1950. After that, South Korea was run by a string of dictators until democracy came in the late 1980s.
Some of the passion evident in South Korean politics can be seen in the turmoil faced by recent presidents, many of whom have been jailed for corruption after leaving office.
A particularly sensational moment came in 2016 when millions protested against conservative President Park Geun-hye, who later became the first democratically elected leader to be forced from office since South Korea turned democratic.
Park, who was pardoned in late 2021 by her liberal rival and successor, had been serving a lengthy prison term for bribery and other crimes.
Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
