Facebook’s parent company Meta today released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal year 2022 ended Dec. 31. According to the report, Meta’s revenue for the fourth quarter was $32.165 billion, down 4 percent from $33.671 billion a year earlier, and net income was $4.652 billion, down 55 percent from $10.285 billion a year earlier.
Meta
Meta’s fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates and it announced an additional $40 billion in share buybacks, pushing the stock up 18% in after-hours trading.
Stock Performance.
Meta shares surged 18.14% after hours
Meta opened Wednesday at $148.03 on the Nasdaq exchange. As of Wednesday’s close, Meta shares rose $4.15, or 2.79%, to close at $153.12. As of 17:00 U.S. Eastern Time on Wednesday (6:00 Beijing Time on Thursday), Meta’s stock price rose $27.77 to $180.89 in after-hours trading, an increase of 18.14%. Over the past 52 weeks, Meta shares have traded as high as $328 and as low as $88.09.
Highlights of operations in the fourth quarter:
——In December 2022, the average family daily active person (DAP) was 2.96 billion, an increase of 5% year-on-year;
——As of December 31, 2022, the number of monthly active persons (MAP) in the family is 3.74 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%;
——In December 2022, the average Facebook daily active users (DAU) is 2 billion people, an increase of 4% year-on-year;
——As of December 31, 2022, Facebook monthly active users (MAU) were 2.96 billion people, an increase of 2% year-on-year.
Fourth Quarter Financial Results:
——The total revenue was US$32.165 billion, a decrease of 4% from the US$33.671 billion in the same period of the previous year; among them, the operating loss of the reality laboratory department responsible for the metaverse business was US$4.28 billion, and the annual loss expanded to US$13.72 billion;
— Total costs and expenses of $25.766 billion, an increase of 22% from $21.086 billion in the same period last year;
—— Operating profit was US$6.399 billion, down 49% from US$12.585 billion in the same period last year; operating margin was 20%, down 17 percentage points from 37% in the same period last year;
—— Net profit was US$4.652 billion, down 55% from US$10.285 billion in the same period last year;
— Diluted earnings per share of $1.76, down 52% from $3.67 in the prior year period;
—— The effective tax rate was 24%, an increase of 5 percentage points from 19% in the same period last year;
— Long-term debt of $9.92 billion as of December 31, 2022;
——Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2022 were US$9.22 billion and US$32.04 billion, including principal repayments for financial leases;
— As of December 31, 2022, Meta’s headcount totaled 86,482, a 20% increase year-over-year, including most of the roughly 11,000 layoffs planned.
— As of December 31, 2022, Meta held cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $40.74 billion.
2022 Annual Results Highlights:
— Total revenue of $116.609 billion, down 1% from $117.929 billion in fiscal 2021;
— Operating profit of $28.944 billion, down 38% from $46.753 billion in fiscal 2021;
— Net income of $23.200 billion was down 41% from $39.370 billion in fiscal 2021.
$40 billion in stock repurchases
Meta said the company has repurchased $6.91 billion in the fourth quarter and $27.93 billion in the full year of fiscal 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, Meta also has a repurchase facility of $10.87 billion.
Meta also announced today that it will increase the authorization of its repurchase program by $40 billion.
Outlook:
Meta expects first-quarter fiscal 2023 total revenue to be in the range of $26.0 billion to $28.5 billion, taking into account foreign currency headwinds of approximately 2% year-over-year growth; fiscal 2023 capex to be in the range of $89.0 billion Between US$95 billion and US$95 billion, lower than the previous estimate of US$91 billion to US$100 billion; capital expenditures will be between US$30 billion and US$33 billion, lower than the previous estimate of US$34 billion to US$37 billion.
