During the recent earnings report conference, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that the company's investments in artificial intelligence (AI) are showing "strong momentum."
Despite Meta's quarterly revenue and profits exceeding Wall Street's expectations, Zuckerberg anticipates that the company's AI spending will increase further next year. Although Meta's stock has risen by over 70% since the beginning of 2024, setting a new high, its share price fell by about 3% in after-hours trading following the earnings release.
In the earnings report, Meta reported a 19% increase in revenue for the third quarter, reaching $40.6 billion, almost matching Wall Street's expectations. Net profit also surged by 35%, reaching $15.7 billion, far exceeding analysts' forecasts of $13.6 billion. Additionally, the daily active users of Meta's social applications increased by 5%, reaching 3.3 billion.
Zuckerberg mentioned during the analyst call that with the advancement of new AI technologies, he sees numerous new opportunities to accelerate the company's core business, expecting good investment returns in the coming years.
He stated that the AI-driven content recommendation feature on the platform has increased user engagement time on both Facebook and Instagram by 8% and 6%, respectively. He also mentioned the possibility of adding new content categories on these platforms, including AI-generated or AI-summarized content, indicating that relevant tests are currently underway.
Zuckerberg also introduced the growing user acceptance of Meta's AI chatbot, Meta AI, and the increasing application of the large language model Llama among businesses and developers. The scale of Llama's training makes it a leader in the industry.
However, Meta's Reality Labs in the virtual and augmented reality fields still face challenges, with revenue for the third quarter仅为 $270 million and an operating loss of $4.4 billion. Zuckerberg also admitted that the annual operating loss of Reality Labs is expected to increase significantly. The company also revealed that they are restructuring the teams of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, reducing some employees and relocating others.
Meta's CFO, Susan Li, stated that the company will further increase investments in Reality Labs, infrastructure, and generative AI, prioritizing these areas. She also mentioned that fourth-quarter sales are expected to be between $45 billion and $48 billion. Meta has raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast to between $38 billion and $40 billion, and expects a significant increase in infrastructure spending.
Key Points:
- 📈 Meta's third-quarter revenue grew by 19%, and net profit increased by 35%, exceeding market expectations.
- 🤖 Zuckerberg emphasized the potential of AI technology for the company's future and expects to increase related investments.
- 📉 Reality Labs faces significant losses, with operating losses expected to increase markedly.
