Meta's stock rises after earnings beat

Meta's stock price soared on Friday, adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the market value of the social media giant that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The company said Thursday, after the market closed, that its latest quarterly profit more than tripled as it benefited from a rebound in digital advertising. It also announced its first dividend and authorized another $50 billion in stock buybacks.

Meta's stock rose more than 20 percent in early trading Friday, pushing it further into record territory. The company recently regained its trillion-dollar status, and its size gives it a big influence on indexes like the S&P 500, which gained about 1 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose even more, by about 1.5 percent.

Friday's increase added about $200 billion to Meta's market value, about as much as the entire market capitalization of major multinational companies – such as McDonald's.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, called 2023 a “year of efficiency,” as the company cut costs, in part by laying off tens of thousands of workers.

“What's not to like?” Analysts at Truist Securities write this in a research report. They said the cost-cutting measures were “paying off” in the form of higher profit margins.

Analysts at Wells Fargo said they viewed Meta's heavy investments in artificial intelligence as “offensive.” They said Meta's earnings were a “stark contrast” to those of its major rival Alphabet, Google's parent company, which reported profits that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Goldman Sachs researchers said it was unclear whether Meta could keep the momentum going, but the company's blockbuster results were enough “to put past questions about the platform's strength behind us.”