Latest news with #Ray-BanMetaAI
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta (META) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
Shares of social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) jumped 6.6% in the afternoon session after the major indices popped (Nasdaq +3.4%, S&P 500 +2.5%) in response to the positive outcome of U.S.-China trade negotiations, as both sides agreed to pause some tariffs for 90 days, signaling a potential turning point in ongoing tensions. This rollback cuts U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% and Chinese tariffs on U.S. imports to 10%, giving companies breathing room to reset inventories and supply chains. However, President Trump clarified that tariffs could go "substantially higher" if a full deal with China wasn't reached during the 90-day pause, but not all the way back to the previous levels. Still, the agreement has cooled fears of a prolonged trade war, helping stabilize expectations for global growth and trade flows and fueling renewed optimism. The optimism appeared concentrated in key trade-sensitive sectors, particularly technology, retail, and industrials, as lower tariffs reduce cost pressures and restore cross-border demand. Is now the time to buy Meta? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. Meta's shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today's move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 9.9% on the news that the company reported second quarter earnings results. Meta slightly beat analysts' revenue guidance expectations for the next quarter. In addition, this quarter's revenue and EPS narrowly outperformed Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, the company expects to continue investing in Reality Labs as its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are seeing strong traction. Overall, this quarter seemed fairly positive, and shareholders should feel optimistic. Meta is up 6.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $638.23 per share, it is still trading 13.4% below its 52-week high of $736.67 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Meta's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,039. Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Are Meta (META) Shares Soaring Today
Shares of social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) jumped 5.3% in the afternoon session after the major indices rebounded, with stocks recouping some more of the post-tariff losses as the Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed a resilient labor market. Non-farm payrolls rose by 177,000 in April 2025, significantly above the consensus forecast of 133,000. Notably, a stable labor market often supports consumer spending, which is a key driver of economic growth, which means the report could help ease some of the recession fears that gripped markets. In more good news for markets, reports revealed that China may restart trade talks with the U.S. This shift could cool tensions, providing more clarity in an increasingly uncertain global market. The shares closed the day at $597.40, up 4.4% from previous close. Is now the time to buy Meta? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. Meta's shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today's move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 9.9% on the news that the company reported strong second quarter 2024 earnings results. Meta slightly beat analysts' revenue guidance expectations for the next quarter. In addition, the quarter's revenue and EPS narrowly outperformed Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, the company planned to continue investing in Reality Labs as its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses saw strong traction. Overall, this quarter seemed fairly positive, and shareholders should feel optimistic. Meta is down 0.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $596.73 per share, it is trading 19% below its 52-week high of $736.67 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Meta's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,907. Unless you've been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) semiconductor stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth story. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
META Q1 Earnings Call: AI Investment Drives Growth but Guidance Misses Expectations
Social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) reported Q1 CY2025 results topping the market's revenue expectations , with sales up 16.1% year on year to $42.31 billion. On the other hand, next quarter's revenue guidance of $44 billion was less impressive, coming in 0.9% below analysts' estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $7.69 per share was 47.7% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy META? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $42.31 billion vs analyst estimates of $41.35 billion (16.1% year-on-year growth, 2.3% beat) Adjusted EPS: $7.69 vs analyst estimates of $5.21 (47.7% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $25.6 billion vs analyst estimates of $23.99 billion (60.5% margin, 6.7% beat) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $44 billion at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $44.39 billion Operating Margin: 41.5%, up from 37.9% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 24.4%, down from 27.2% in the previous quarter Daily Active People: 3.43 billion, up 190 million year on year Market Capitalization: $1.44 trillion Meta's first quarter results reflected ongoing momentum in its advertising business and the growing impact of artificial intelligence across its platforms. Management attributed the quarter's outperformance to improvements in ad targeting and creative tools powered by AI, as well as user growth on both established and emerging platforms like Threads and Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed to AI-driven enhancements in ad performance and user engagement, saying, 'Our community keeps growing with more than 3.4 billion people now using at least one of our apps each day.' Looking ahead, management set a cautious tone regarding its revenue outlook, citing macroeconomic uncertainty and new regulatory headwinds—especially in Europe. CFO Susan Li noted that the company's second quarter guidance factored in 'reduced spend in the US from Asia-based e-commerce exporters' and potential impacts from the European Commission's Digital Markets Act. She added, 'We continue to feel good about the fundamental drivers of revenue growth,' but acknowledged that a dynamic operating environment could lead to a wider range of outcomes. Meta's management focused on how AI advancements are shaping both the user experience and the core advertising business. The leadership team also discussed progress in newer business areas and the challenges posed by regulatory changes. AI-Powered Advertising: Meta's ongoing upgrades to ad recommendation systems, such as the Generative Ads Recommendation Model (GEM), have improved ad conversion rates and enabled more advertisers to utilize AI-driven creative tools. Management highlighted that 30% more advertisers used AI creative tools in the last quarter, with a new model increasing Reels ad conversion rates by 5%. User Engagement Gains: Improvements in AI-driven recommendation systems drove higher user engagement across platforms. Time spent on Facebook increased 7%, Instagram 6%, and Threads 35% over the past six months. Threads now has over 350 million monthly active users, signaling traction as a new social platform. Business Messaging Growth: Meta continued to expand business messaging capabilities, especially on WhatsApp. While business messaging already drives revenue in certain markets, management believes AI will play a key role in making these tools viable in higher-cost markets over time. AI Glasses and Reality Labs: Sales of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses tripled year-on-year, and new features like live translation were rolled out. However, Reality Labs remains a source of significant investment and operating losses, as Meta continues to prioritize scale and product development over near-term profitability. Regulatory and Market Dynamics: Management acknowledged regulatory risks in the European Union, where new requirements under the Digital Markets Act could negatively impact user experience and revenue beginning as early as the third quarter. They are appealing the decision but preparing for potential changes to their subscription model. Meta's management expects future performance to be shaped by continued investment in AI, evolving regulatory requirements, and the company's ability to deepen monetization across its platforms. AI Infrastructure and Product Rollout: Meta is increasing capital expenditures to accelerate data center and compute capacity, aiming to support both core ad products and new AI-driven experiences. Management believes additional investment will be necessary to meet rising internal demand for AI resources. Regulatory Uncertainty: The company faces potential revenue headwinds from regulatory changes, particularly in Europe. Management warned that modifications to comply with the Digital Markets Act could reduce engagement and monetization in affected regions. Business Messaging and New Monetization Streams: Meta is working to scale business messaging tools and AI agents for small businesses. Management views these products as incremental to current advertising revenue and critical for long-term growth, especially as messaging becomes more deeply integrated into commerce. Brian Nowak (Morgan Stanley): Asked about Meta's advancements in large language models (LLMs) and Meta AI user traction. CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized the focus on low-latency, personalized AI and context window length, noting, "We are building out the leading infrastructure and teams that we need." Eric Sheridan (Goldman Sachs): Inquired about the rationale for a standalone Meta AI app versus integration within existing apps. Zuckerberg said the standalone app is aimed at providing more immediate access, especially in the U.S. where WhatsApp is less dominant. Justin Post (Bank of America): Questioned the impact of e-commerce supply issues on guidance and the return on large capital expenditures. CFO Susan Li cited uncertainty in Asia-based e-commerce spend and stressed that CapEx is directed at maintaining leadership in AI infrastructure. Doug Anmuth (JPMorgan): Sought clarification on the breakdown of CapEx increases and the potential for partnership in funding AI infrastructure. Li explained that higher hardware costs and accelerated data center builds are main drivers, but Meta remains the primary funder of its AI training infrastructure. Youssef Squali (Truist Securities): Asked about the competitive landscape for AI chatbots and the financial impact of European regulatory actions. Zuckerberg discussed personalization and multimodal capabilities as Meta AI's differentiators, while Li acknowledged it is too early to quantify the regulatory impact but noted European ad revenue represents 16% of 2024 totals. In the coming quarters, our team will be watching (1) how Meta executes on scaling its AI infrastructure and rolls out new AI-driven ad and messaging features, (2) the evolution of regulatory developments in Europe and their effect on user engagement and revenue, and (3) whether new monetization efforts in business messaging and AI-powered products gain meaningful traction. Progress in Reality Labs and uptake of Meta AI's standalone app will also be closely monitored as indicators of longer-term strategic success. Meta currently trades at a forward EV/EBITDA ratio of 13×. In the wake of earnings, is it a buy or sell? Find out in our free research report. The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025. While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we're homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver's seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years. Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Comfort Systems (+751% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Is Meta (META) Stock Rocketing Higher Today
Shares of social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) jumped 7.2% in the pre-market session after the company reported strong first quarter 2025 results which exceeded analysts' expectations across revenue, EPS, and EBITDA. Revenue grew 16% year over year, driven by a 10% rise in average ad prices and a 5% increase in impressions across Meta's Family of Apps. The real story for the quarter was the 27% rise in operating income and a 37% jump in EPS, driven by a sharp rebound in ad pricing and disciplined expense management, despite elevated investments in AI infrastructure and product development. Looking forward, Meta raised its capital expenditure outlook to reflect greater investment in data centers and AI, suggesting that growth investments remain a top priority. Overall, this quarter had some key positives: accelerating ad revenue, growing earnings, and a business model that continues to show operating leverage in a volatile digital environment. The shares closed the day at $572.09, up 4.5% from previous close. Is now the time to buy Meta? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. Meta's shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today's move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 9.9% on the news that the company reported strong second quarter 2024 earnings. Meta slightly beat analysts' revenue guidance expectations for the next quarter. In addition, this quarter's revenue and EPS narrowly outperformed Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, the company expects to continue investing in Reality Labs as its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are seeing strong traction. Overall, this quarter seemed fairly positive, and shareholders should feel optimistic. Meta is down 4.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $571.50 per share, it is trading 22.4% below its 52-week high of $736.67 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Meta's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,825. Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we've identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta Surges on Earnings Strength
Meta Platforms grew sales at a faster pace than most investors had expected, and earnings topped the consensus forecast among investors by more than $1 per share. Founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg heralded the progress that Meta is making on the artificial intelligence front. Meta expects to spend more than previously forecast on capital expenditures during 2025 as it boosts investment on data centers and infrastructure hardware to support its AI efforts. Here's our initial take on Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ: META) first-quarter financial report. Metric Q1 2024 Q1 2025 Change vs. Expectations Total revenue $36.5 billion $42.3 billion +16% Beat Adjusted earnings per share $4.71 $6.43 +37% Beat Family daily active people 3.24 billion 3.43 billion +6% n/a Operating margin 38% 41% +3 pp n/a Meta reported first-quarter financial results that reflected a great start to 2025. Revenue rose 16% year over year, but foreign currency adjustments cost the company what would have been an additional 3 percentage points of growth. The number of ad impressions Meta had across its platform rose 5%, while pricing was even stronger, picking up 10% per ad on average. Family daily active people engaging on platform products rose by about 190 million to 3.43 billion. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Even more importantly, Meta kept costs in line. The expense side of the income statement rose only 9%, with a big decline in overhead expenses helping to offset a rise in research-and-development spending of over 20%. Meta also kept its marketing and sales budget in check. As a result, operating income jumped 27%, and favorable declines in income taxes helped boost net income to $16.6 billion, up 35% from the same period a year ago. In the press release, Meta founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed to the Meta AI artificial intelligence and augmented reality unit as a source of encouraging results. In particular, offerings of its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses earned a specific mention from the Meta founder. The company is coming close to a key milestone of reaching 1 billion monthly active users on the AI front. Meta investors were generally pleased with the results. The stock was up about 4% in after-hours trading half an hour after the release of the quarterly financial report. In addition to topping past guidance for the first quarter, Meta projected that second-quarter revenue would be between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion. The move higher comes after Meta stock had lost nearly a third of its value since late February. The social media giant had been just one of many companies that saw shares fall sharply as markets digested geopolitical and macroeconomic issues. Meta did warn that it continues to monitor the regulatory environment for potential threats, particularly with the European Commission's recent decision about Meta's subscription-based ad-free service not complying with the Digital Markets Act. Another area investors have traditionally looked at is capital spending, and Meta boosted its projections on expenditures by $4 billion to $7 billion to a new range of $64 billion to $72 billion for the full year. The move confirms that Meta isn't slowing down on investing in data centers and infrastructure hardware to support AI. That could be good news for the companies that supply Meta's needs as well. Full earnings release Investor relations page Additional Meta coverage from on how tariffs could affect its growth Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $610,327!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $667,581!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 882% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 161% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Dan Caplinger has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Meta Surges on Earnings Strength was originally published by The Motley Fool
