Meta’s stock rose more than 5% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. Meta’s revenue reached $42.3 billion, exceeding the $41.4 billion estimate.
Earnings per share (EPS) were $6.43, compared to the expected $5.28. Net income increased by 35% from last year to $16.6 billion.
Looking forward, CFO Susan Li said second-quarter sales are expected to be between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion, aligning with the $44.0 billion forecast. However, she noted a decrease in ad spending from e-commerce businesses in Asia.
Meta also raised its capital expenditure outlook for 2025 to between $64 billion and $72 billion, up from $60 billion to $65 billion. This change reflects rising costs for infrastructure due to global supply-chain issues. At the same time, the company lowered its expense forecast to between $113 billion and $118 billion.
Daily active users grew to 3.43 billion, which exceeded expectations. Meta’s AI now has nearly 1 billion monthly users. Reality Labs reduced its operating loss for Q1 to $4.2 billion, which was better than predicted, although hardware sales were still below expectations.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts, “Our business is performing very well, and we’re positioned to navigate macro uncertainty.”
Is it a good time to buy Meta stock?
According to estimates from 61 analysts, the average target price for Meta is $705.66. The highest prediction is $935.00, while the lowest is $448.00. The average target suggests a potential increase of 28.54% from the current price of $549.00.
Meanwhile, GuruFocus estimates that the value of Meta in one year will be $487.81, indicating a potential decrease of 11.15% from the current price of $549.00.