Meta beats analyst estimates in Q3 earnings report

Meta beat analyst estimates on its latest quarterly report on Wednesday, posting earnings per share of $6.03 and revenue of $40.59 billion. It earned $39.9 billion in advertising revenue, an increase of 18.7 percent year-over-year.

"We had a good quarter driven by AI progress across our apps and business," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release. "We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses."

Ad impressions on Meta’s suite of apps, including Facebook and Instagram, went up 7% year-over-year (YoY), and the average price per ad jumped 11% YoY. 

On a call with analysts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 1 million marketers have used its generative AI for advertising. Its AI tools through its Advantage+ program allow for full image and text creation based on a brand’s messaging tone, among other features. 

However, the company expects to spend “significantly” more money to continue to improve its AI systems. Capital expenses are expected to increase in 2025, including buying more data centers to power its AI technologies. 

“Our AI investments continue to require serious infrastructure,” Zuckerberg said on the call.

The company said it had 3.29 billion active daily users this past quarter, a 5% increase. Though it may seem like good news for the company, it was lower than analysts expected. It also lost $4.4 billion through its Reality Labs Unit, its division dedicated to Metaverse, hardware and AR/VR technologies.

The company also noted slowing ad revenue growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Sales only grew 15% this quarter — compared to 28% in the previous quarter — and ad impressions grew 9% versus 15 percent the prior quarter. 

Meta CFO Susan Li said lower demand from Chinese advertisers was to blame, as online retailers like Shein and Temu temper their digital ad buys.