Meta Excites with Strong AI Growth and Record Results

Meta has exceeded Wall Street's expectations in its latest quarterly report, while also highlighting dynamic developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The technology giant plans to further intensify its investments in this forward-looking technology by 2025. In the third quarter, revenues rose by 19 percent to $40.6 billion, which is at the upper end of the projected range and slightly exceeds analysts' expectations of $40.3 billion. Net profit surged by 35 percent to $15.7 billion, significantly above the consensus of $13.6 billion. Despite these impressive metrics, Meta shares, which have already increased by over 70 percent in 2024, saw a decline of about 3 percent following the announcement of the results. CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that the solid quarterly performance was due to progress in Artificial Intelligence across all applications and business areas. He particularly highlighted the dynamic development of Meta AI, the company's chatbot, and the introduction of the open language model Llama by companies and developers. Additionally, the recently unveiled AI-powered glasses, developed in collaboration with eyewear brand Ray-Ban, attracted attention. The company expects fourth-quarter sales to range between $45 billion and $48 billion, while the consensus according to S&P Capital IQ stands at $46.2 billion. Meta has also raised the lower end of its investment forecast for the entire year of 2024 from $37 billion to $38 billion. For the coming year, Meta anticipates a 'significant acceleration in the growth of infrastructure costs,' due to a 'higher growth rate in depreciation and operating costs of our expanded infrastructure fleet.'