Meta Blows Past Q4 Expectations With Record Revenue and Profit as Zuckerberg Touts Massive AI Investment

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta turned in a big beat for the fourth quarter of 2024, with the parent of Facebook and Instagram reporting record quarterly revenue and net profit to close out the year.

The strong results come as the company is looking ahead to a massive increase in AI-fueled capital spending in 2025 — and as Meta CEO and chairman Mark Zuckerberg has been working to win the favor of President Trump, an erstwhile antagonist of the tech giant.

The company reported Q4 revenue of $48.39 billion, up 21%, and net income of $20.84 billion, up 49%, or $8.02 per share. For Q4, Wall Street analysts on average expected Meta to post $46.99 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $6.76, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

For December 2024, the average daily users across Meta’s apps — including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — hit 3.35 billion (up from 3.29 billion three months prior). “We continue to make good progress on AI, glasses, and the future of social media,” Zuckerberg said in announcing Q4 earnings. “I’m excited to see these efforts scale further in 2025.” Zuckerberg last week announced that Meta expects 2025 capex to be $60 billion-$65 billion, driven by AI data center investments, up significantly from an estimated $38 billion-$40 billion in 2024. “This will be a defining year for AI,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Jan.