Proactive Investors - Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) shares rocketed after Thursday’s closing bell as the tech giant once again outperformed Wall Street's expectations, this time for the fourth quarter and full year 2023.
The Facebook (NASDAQ:META), Instagram and WhatsApp parent company reported 4Q revenue of $40.1 billion, up from $32.2 billion in the year-ago quarter and ahead of estimates of $39 billion.
Earnings per share (EPS) rose from $1.76 to $5.33, compared to expectations of $4.83.
"We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. "We've made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse."
For the full year 2023, Meta posted earnings per share of $14.87 on revenue of $134.9 billion, topping estimates of $14.40 and $133.8 billion respectively.
Facebook daily active users rose 6% year-over-year to 2.11 billion in December 2023, while monthly active users rose 3% to 3.07 billion.
Daily active people across its family of apps were 3.19 billion, up 8% year-over-year, while monthly active people were up 6% to 3.98 billion.
Meanwhile, Meta reported total costs and expenses of $23.7 billion for 4Q and $88.2 billion for the full year, representing an 8% and 1% decrease respectively over the prior comparable periods.
Its headcount was 67,317 as of the year-end, down 22% year-over-year.
Meta’s shares gained 12.2% at US$443 in afterhours trade Thursday shortly following the release of its earnings report.