Meta posted higher revenue last quarter, totalling 36.8 billion euros ($40.1 billion), mainly due to increased revenues from e-commerce, entertainment and gaming, and advertising. The tech giant plans to invest twice as much in AI in the coming year.
Quarterly revenue is a record, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $39.1 billion. Net profit also increased significantly, quadrupling. In the fourth quarter of 2023, net profit reached $14 billion, up from $4.65 billion a year earlier.
Annual sales and revenue generators
Annual revenue for 2023 came to $140 billion. This is 16 per cent higher than the $117 billion from 2022. According to Meta CFO Susan Li, the good results for the last quarter of 2023 came mainly from increased revenues from e-commerce, entertainment and gaming. The advertising business also contributed significantly to quarterly revenue, including large campaigns from Chinese e-commerce companies.
In addition, Meta’s cost savings over the past year for more efficient operations, unfortunately with mass layoffs, contributed to better revenue results.
Increased investment in AI
Meta’s AI projects have not yet contributed much to the favourable numbers and are not expected to do much for now. However, AI is going to play a more critical role in 2024. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta will integrate even more generative AI into its platform in 2024.
To do so, the tech giant would like to roll out even more AI assistants within its platform for end users, content creators and advertisers. In addition, Meta also plans to deploy AI to improve ad performance further.
This also means investing in the necessary infrastructure in AI and non-AI servers and data centres. Developments around the metaverse will also continue, but at a slower pace than ever announced.
Dividend payout first
For shareholders, Zuckerberg had another first. The tech giant will pay dividends for the first time in its existence. Meta also announced an additional $50 billion in share buybacks.
These positive announcements for shareholders caused Meta shares on the stock exchange to rise 14 per cent yesterday.
For the first quarter of 2024, the tech giant expects to generate revenue between $34.5 billion and $37 billion.
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