Meta Platforms (META) stock gained late Wednesday after the Facebook parent company gave a stronger-than-expected sales forecast and beat first-quarter estimates, likely easing some tariff fears from investors. Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant also increased its 2025 spending forecast for capital expenditures, with a focus on its AI ambitions.
Meta said that it earned $6.43 per share on sales of $42.3 billion for the March-ended quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet projected the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company would post adjusted earnings of $5.23 per share on sales of $41.3 billion.
↑ X NOW PLAYING Zuckerberg Is Investing Billions On AI. Why It’s A Make-Or-Break Moment For Meta. Sales increased 16% year-over-year. Earnings increased 37% to $6.43.
Meta guided for $44 billion in sales for the June quarter, at the midpoint of its range. That was slightly ahead of analyst estimates for $43.8 billion in Q2 sales prior to the report.
The sales guidance is helped by a 1% currency tailwind, Meta said. Still, the outlook likely still helps ease some concerns about how tariffs and the end of the de minimis import exemption for Chinese goods will hit Meta’s advertising business. Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein are beneficiaries of the de minimis exemption and also big advertisers on Facebook and Instagram.
“We’ve had a strong start to an important year, our community continues to grow and our business is performing very well,” Zuckerberg, Meta’s Chief Executive, said in a news release. “We’re making good progress on AI glasses and Meta AI, which now has almost 1 billion monthly actives.”
On the stock market today, Meta stock is up more than 4% at 576.26 in recent after-hours action.
Meta Pushes Ahead With Big AI Spending
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is not backing away from Meta’s big spending on AI. Meta increased its guidance for capital expenditures in 2025 to $68 billion at the midpoint. The tech giant told investors in January that it planned to spend $62.5 billion on 2025 capex, at the midpoint of its range.
The spending “reflects additional data center investments to support our artificial intelligence efforts as well as an increase in the expected cost of infrastructure hardware,” the company said in its news release.
Meanwhile, the Facebook parent company lowered its expectations for total 2025 expenses to $115.5 billion, $1 billion lower than the midrange of its previous guidance.
Meta Stock: Family of Apps Users Up 6%
Meanwhile, Meta was a 6% year-over-year increase in “daily active people,” the metric the company uses to track total users of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and its others apps.
Ad impressions delivered across Meta’s apps increased 5% year-over-year while the average price per ad on Facebook and elsewhere increased 10%.
That helped power a 16% revenue increase for Meta’s “Family of Apps” business, to $41.9 billion. Meta’s other division, the metaverse-focused Reality Labs, has $412 million in sales, down 6% from a year earlier.
Meta Stock Down 6% This Year
Prior to earnings, Meta fell just under 1% in Wednesday trading. Shares have fallen 6.1% this year, compared to a 5.3% year-to-date slide for the S&P 500.
Coming into the report, Meta stock had an IBD Composite Rating of 86 out of 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
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