Meta's Stock Soars 14% on Big Revenue and Earnings Gains, Strong Outlook
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.'s stock soared 12% after hours Thursday on a surge in quarterly digital-advertising sales, and big beats on revenue and earnings.The company's board of directors also declared their first cash dividend of 50 cents a share, payable March 26.Meta reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $14.02 billion, or $5.33 a share, compared with net income of $4.65 billion, or $1.76 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.Revenue expanded 25% to $40.11 billion from $32.2 billion in the year-ago quarter.A bounce-back in advertising, the continued monetization of Instagram and Reels, and AI-fueled ad-targeting and measurement contributed to the quarter's performance. Meta's exemplary performance comes two days after a similarly strong quarter from Google parent Alphabet Inc. ."We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow," Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement announcing the results. "We've made a lot of progress