Last Wednesday, April 30, the value of Meta Platforms shares showed growth of as much as 5% after the company released information about its earnings for the first quarter of 2025, which exceeded analysts’ preliminary expectations, and provided guidance for the present quarter, which coincided with Wall Street forecasts.
The revenue of the mentioned technology giant, based in Menlo Park, California, for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $42.31 billion mark. This indicator showed an increase of 16% compared to the reading for the same period in 2024. The consensus forecast of analysts, surveyed by LSEG, Meta’s revenue for the first quarter of 2025 would reach $41.4 billion.
Earnings per share for January-March of the current year amounted to $6.43. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted that this figure would reach $5.28.
The technology giant’s net income for the first quarter of the current year was recorded at the $16.64 billion mark. This indicator showed an increase of 35% compared to the reading for the same period in 2024.
The technology giant expects its sales for the second quarter of 2025 to be between $42.5 billion and $45.51 billion. This was announced by Meta finance chief Susan Li. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted that the company’s sales for the second quarter of 2025 would reach $44.03 billion.
Susan Li also stated that the technology giant has started to see some reduction in spending on advertising from Asian e-commerce exporters.
Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on an earnings call on Wednesday that the company’s business is performing very well. In his opinion, the technology giant is well-positioned to navigate macroeconomic uncertainty.
Meta also released information that it lowered the range of 2025 total expenses, which now come in between $113 billion to $118 billion. Previously, this figure ranged from $114 billion to $119 billion.
At the same time, the technology giant increased its capital expenditures for the current year. The corresponding figure ranges from $64 billion to $72 billion. The previous outlook for this reading ranged from $60 billion to $65 billion.
The technology giant stated that the mentioned updated forecast reflects additional investments in data centers to support its efforts in the area of artificial intelligence. It was also noted that in this case, an increase in the expected cost of hardware infrastructure was taken into account.
Susan Li stated that the growth in the expected hardware infrastructure is the result of suppliers who source from countries around the world. She also noted that there is a lot of uncertainty around this, given the ongoing trade discussions. Moreover, Susan Li stated that the technology giant is working on its end mitigations by optimizing the supply chain.
Meta also warned that the decision of the European Commission could lead to a significant deterioration in the user experience for European consumers. It was also noted that this decision could become an impact factor on the company’s European business and its revenue as early as the third quarter of the current year. The relevant context implies the conclusion of the European Commission that Meta’s no-ads subscription service for European users is not in compliance with one of its regulations. Susan Li stated that the technology giant continues to engage actively with the mentioned regulator on this issue. She also noted that the company hopes to have more clarity by next quarter’s call.
The technology giant’s advertising revenue for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $41.39 billion mark. For the same period in 2024, this figure amounted to $35.63 billion. At the same time, Wall Street’s consensus forecast was for Meta advertising revenue to reach $40.44 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
Reality Labs, the hardware unit of the technology giant, generated revenue of $412 million in January-March of the current year. For the same period in 2024, this figure amounted to $440 million. The operating loss of Reality Labs for the first quarter of 2025 was recorded at the $4.2 billion mark. Analysts interviewed by the media predicted that the revenue of the mentioned unit of the technology giant for January-March of the current year would reach $492.7 million. Besides, they projected the operating loss of Reality Labs for the first quarter of 2025 would be recorded at the $4.6 billion mark.
The mentioned unit of the technology giant specializes in the development of virtual reality headsets under the Quest brand and Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. It is worth noting that this structural unit is a kind of core of the process of implementing Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to build a new computing platform that includes digital worlds, the immersion of users in the space of which is provided through VR and augmented reality devices. In the context of the formation of corporate online reality, Meta strives for the most ambitious goal. Conceptually, the company intends to go beyond the traditional digital ecosystem and generate a larger, fully functional space of what can be described as a virtual being. This is a promising project. The corresponding statement is related to the fact that currently there is a formation of a virtually new dimension of reality, which is digital. The so-called artificial intelligence boom has significantly accelerated this process. At the same time, it is worth noting that Meta’s digital worlds are a long-term project, and therefore it is too early to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of the company’s efforts in the corresponding direction.
Since the end of 2020, the cumulative losses of Reality Labs have amounted to more than $60 billion. This amount includes a loss of $3.85 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
At the end of 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of his company from Facebook to Meta. This action, on a kind of symbolic level, reflects the desire of the technology giant to generate digital worlds and, in general, to become more immersed in the virtual environment.
It is worth noting that Wall Street doubts the effectiveness and expediency of Meta’s big spending on the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg said it could be many years before the mentioned project turns into a real business.
Meta is currently generally facing an external environment that cannot be unequivocally described as favorable. The relevant statement is relevant both in the context of the existing situation and from the point of view of future prospects. Meta, like other major technology companies, has faced tariffs that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, imposed on virtually all countries around the world. Also, as noted by the media, the technology giant is gradually approaching the expected increase in costs. This means that the price of Meta’s devices is highly likely to rise.
Last week, the technology giant announced the dismissal of some employees of Reality Labs. The exact figure has not yet been disclosed. It is known that in this case, the layoffs relate to employees of Oculus Studios, which creates VR and AR games and content for Quest VR headsets.
A Meta spokesperson, commenting on the mentioned decision, noted that some teams within Oculus Studios are undergoing shifts in structure and roles that have impacted team size. It was also stated that these changes are designed to improve the efficiency of future mixed reality experiences for growing audiences, while still delivering great content for people today.
The number of daily active users on virtual platforms owned by Meta reached 3.43 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted that this figure would amount to 3.39 billion. In the previous quarter, the mentioned reading reached 3.35 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg stated that Threads microblogging service has 350 million monthly users. In January, this figure was 320 million.
Last week, Meta announced that all eligible advertisers around the world will be able to run ads on Threads. Susan Li noted that the technology giant does not expect Threads ads to significantly drive revenue growth in 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg has stated that the Meta AI digital assistant currently has almost 1 billion monthly users. In January, this figure was 700 million. Susan Li stated that WhatsApp is the primary way people access Meta AI. This week, the technology giant released a standalone Meta AI app.
Mark Zuckerberg stated that he envisions the mentioned virtual product as a place to show ads. Also, according to him, the technology giant could charge for a premium version of the digital assistant. At the same time, he stated that Meta will focus on the building of the product for at least the next year before starting to monetize it.
The technology giant also published information according to which, as of March 31, 2025, the number of its employees was 76,834. This figure is 11% higher than the reading of a year ago. In February, the company laid off 5% of its employees. At that time, it was noted that the layoffs affected those who worked the worst.
Besides, Meta has published information according to which the volume of advertising sales in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter of the current year amounted to $8.22 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected this figure to reach $8.42 billion.
Susan Li told analysts that Meta has seen some reduced spending in the United States from Asian-based e-commerce exporters. The technology giant suggests that this is because on Friday, May 2, the de minimis loophole will end.
Susan Li stated that a portion of the mentioned spend has been redirected to other markets, but the total spend of those advertisers is below the level seen before April.
It is worth noting that the advertising business is critically needed for Meta. The share of this business in the company’s revenue is 98%. Among other things, the mentioned activity is important as a source of financial resources needed to implement the process of the technology giant’s expensive expansion into the area of artificial intelligence. Moreover, AI helps improve ad targeting and personalization of the content that people see on social media platforms owned by the company.
In the context of the Meta’s development in the area of artificial intelligence, the high level of competition is also important. Recently, the number of players and products in the AI industry has been rapidly increasing. Artificial intelligence is an advanced technology of modernity, which contains an enormous potential, up to the fundamental transformation of the world in its economic, social, political, and cultural dimensions. For this reason, the high level of global interest in machine intelligence is logical. Meta is making efforts to keep up with OpenAI and Google in developing large language models and chatbots.
Andrew Rocco, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said that while many companies have not been providing forward guidance amid tariff concerns and an uncertain macro environment, Meta has done so, which is a bullish sign. The expert pointed not only to the technology giant’s forecast for the second quarter of 2025 but also to an increase in expected capital expenditures. According to Andrew Rocco, in this case, there is a positive look for the broader artificial intelligence sector.
Meta published information about its results of operations for the first quarter of 2025 the day after the inaugural LlamaCon conference. The company’s chief product officer Chris Cox stated that artificial intelligence models of the Llama series have been downloaded about 1.2 billion times.
As we have reported earlier, Meta Plans Investments Into AI-Driven Humanoid Robots.
