Meta Platforms

Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results; Initiates Quarterly Dividend PR Newswire MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 1, 2024 MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023. “We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “We’ve made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse.” Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Highlights Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended December 31, December 31, ——— ——————- ———- In millions, except percentages and per share amounts 2023 2022 % Change 2023 2022 ——- ——— ——— ——– ——— Revenue $40,111 $ 32,165 25 % $134,902 $ 116,609 % Change 16 % ——– Costs and expenses 23,727 25,766 (8) % 88,151 87,665 1 % —— ——– ——- […]

Meta Platforms (META) reported Q4 earnings late Thursday of $5.33 per diluted share, up from $1.76 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $4.94. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $40.11 billion, up from $32.17 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected $39.17 billion. Meta said it expects Q1 revenue between $34.5 billion and $37.0 billion. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expect $33.87 billion. The company said its board initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, payable on March 26 to shareholders of record on Feb. 22. Meta also said it plans to pay a quarterly dividend going forward, subject to market conditions and board approval. The company’s shares were rising past 12% in recent after-hours trading.

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We boost our 12-month target to $500 from $430, on a revised P/E of 23.1x our 2025 EPS view, within META’s five-year historical forward average. We up our 2024 EPS view to $18.87 from $17.52 and 2025 to $21.61 from $20.69. META posted Q4 EPS of $5.33 vs. $1.76, beating the $4.97 consensus. Sales rose 25% and Q1 guide was strong (6% above our view at the midpoint), on better-than-expected digital ad spend/share gain and strong Quest 3 holiday sales. We applaud META’s ability to keep its 2024 opex outlook unchanged from the original guide ($94B-$99B) and only moderately raise capex ($30B-$37B; up $2B at the high end), given the need for elevated AI investments. We like META’s improved FCF/capital allocation policy, with its dividend initiation ($0.50

Meta Platforms (META) shares were up more than 16% premarket Friday after it reported Q4 earnings late Thursday of $5.33 per diluted share, up from $1.76 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $4.94. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $40.11 billion, up from $32.17 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected $39.17 billion. Meta said it expects Q1 revenue between $34.5 billion and $37.0 billion. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expect $33.87 billion. The company said its board initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, payable on March 26 to shareholders of record on Feb. 22. Meta also said it plans to pay a quarterly dividend going forward, subject to market conditions and board approval.

Oppenheimer raised its price target on Meta Platforms (META) to $525 from $385 following Q4 earnings beat and better-than-expected guidance, driven by broad-based advertiser demand, as AI investments drive relative ad efficiency improvements. The company reported a year-over-year daily user growth acceleration to 8% across its Family of Apps, indicating Reels’ growing share of consumer time. Despite Reels not yet monetizing at the level of Feeds or Stories, ad prices saw a 2% year-over-year increase, the first positive growth since Q4/21, signaling progress towards parity. Meta Platforms has an average rating of Buy and price targets ranging from $175 to $575, according to analysts polled by Capital IQ.

Morgan Stanley Boosts Price Target on Meta Platforms to $550 From $375 on ‘Solid Execution,’ Faster Growth, Increased Capital Structure Efficiency; Overweight Kept.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 02/02/2024 12.8% Citigroup $440 → $525 Maintains Buy 01/30/2024 -0.09% Keybanc $380 → $465 Maintains Overweight 01/29/2024 -2.24% Jefferies $425 → $455 Maintains Buy 01/24/2024 -3.31% Raymond James $425 → $450 Maintains Strong Buy 01/22/2024 -14.05% RBC Capital → $400 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/19/2024 -11.91% JMP Securities $380 → $410 Maintains Market Outperform 01/17/2024 -10.83% Piper Sandler $355 → $415 Maintains Overweight 01/11/2024 0.99% Mizuho $400 → $470 Maintains Buy 01/10/2024 0.99% Mizuho $400 → $470 Maintains Buy 01/09/2024 -14.7% BMO Capital → $397 Initiates Coverage On → Market Perform 12/27/2023 -9.76% Wedbush $350 → $420 Maintains Outperform 11/22/2023 -6.53% Tigress Financial $380 → $435 Maintains Strong Buy 11/14/2023 -12.98% Stifel → $405 Reiterates Buy → Buy 10/26/2023 -12.98% Truist Securities $390 → $405 Maintains Buy 10/26/2023 -14.05% RBC Capital

Citigroup analyst Ronald Josey maintains Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) with a Buy and raises the price target from $440 to $525.

Meta Platforms’ (META) upbeat first-quarter revenue outlook implies a substantially higher-than-expected growth trajectory through the rest of the year, as the Facebook parent continues to see healthy engagement trends and improving monetization, Wedbush Securities said Friday. Revenue is set to be in a range of $34.5 billion to $37 billion for the ongoing quarter, assuming a neutral foreign-currency impact, the company said late Thursday. The current consensus on Capital IQ is for revenue of $35.64 billion, while Wedbush raised its own estimate to $35.92 billion from $33.57 billion. Shares of Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, jumped 17% in recent premarket trading. Meta has several “sustainable drivers” to support growth, such as improving monetization of new ad formats and surfaces, with reels becoming accretive to revenue and robust growth in click-to-message ad revenues, according to Wedbush. The company is also implementing artificial intelligence tools to diversify its advertiser base,

The following is a summary of the Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Meta Platforms reported Q4 2023 total revenue of $40.1 billion, reflecting a 25% year-over-year increase. The company’s net income was $14 billion or $5.33 per share. Total expenses of $23.7 billion signaled a decrease of 8% from the previous year, resulting in an operating income of $16.4 billion (41% operating margin). The record-high Family of Apps total revenue was $133 billion and ad revenue was $131.9 billion for FY 2023, each increasing by 16% year-over-year. Significant investment was made in servers, data centers, and network infrastructure, causing a capital expenditure of $7.9 billion. Meta ended the year with $65.4 billion in cash and marketable securities, besides an $18.4 billion debt. The platform launched a dividend program to return capital to shareholders, with the primary method being a $6.3 billion share repurchase in

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) announces inaugural dividend, potentially yielding CEO Mark Zuckerberg an estimated annual payout of $700 million. What Happened: Meta has communicated its decision to reward investors with a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per share for Class A and B common stock, commencing in March, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. With a stake of about 350 million shares, Zuckerberg is estimated to receive close to $175 million each quarter before taxes. The dividend announcement signifies Meta’s outlook on growth, as tech firms on a rapid growth trajectory often skip dividends, preferring to reinvest profits into new product development or high-priced acquisitions. However, Meta’s acquisition opportunities are dwindling due to regulatory pushback, even as it continues to invest substantially in artificial intelligence (AI).

Meta Platforms (META) is likely to post Q4 results above consensus as analysts see upside potential on Reels momentum and artificial intelligence benefits, BofA Securities said in a note Wednesday. The social networking and virtual reality company is set to report Q4 financial results following the market close Thursday. Meta’s revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31 is seen rising 22% year-over-year to $39.3 billion, topping Street at $39.0 billion, BofA analysts said, adding “24% growth is possible.” BofA also sees Meta’s per-share Q4 earnings at $5.18, exceeding Street’s $4.89, and is projecting revenue for the current quarter in a range of $32.0 billion to $34.5 billion, bracketing the $33.6 billion Street view. “We remain constructive on Meta and see multiple tailwinds aiding (the) stock” during 2024, including upside potential for the company’s messaging platforms and its new artificial intelligence and machine learning integrations driving increased usage and advertising