FILE - Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, speaks at the SIGGRAPH 2024 conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, July 29, 2024, in Denver. Meta reports earnings on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. reported stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading.
The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $13.47 billion, or $5.16 per share, in the April-June period. That’s up 73% from $7.8 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 22% to $39.07 billion from $32 billion.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $4.72 per share on revenue of $38.26 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
“We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.
The number of daily active users for Meta’s family of apps – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – was 3.27 billion for June, an increase of 7% from a year earlier. The company no longer breaks out user figures for Facebook as it had in the past.
Meta’s stock rose $23.67, or 5%, to 498.50 in after-hours trading.
