What happened
Shares of Meta Platforms (META 0.90%) jumped 17.4% in February, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The rise means that shares of the social media company are now up slightly more than 50% year to date.
Image source: Getty images.
So what
As expected, Meta Platforms rounded off 2022 with a lackluster set of financial numbers. Revenue dipped by 1% year over year to $116.7 billion but operating income fell by 38% year over year to $28.9 billion. Net income fell sharply by 41% year over year to $23.2 billion. Exchange rates presented a headwind for the company as revenue would have grown by 4% year over year with constant currencies.
On the bright side, Meta Platforms logged a new milestone of two billion daily active users. Investors' fears over continued growth for its suite of products were put to rest, with the company seeing a 5% year over year increase in Family daily active people and a 4% year over year improvement in Family monthly active people.
What got investors excited were CEO Mark Zuckerberg's remarks, though. He mentioned that 2023 will be deemed the "Year of Efficiency" as Meta Platforms sharpens its focus on profitability while spending less on capital expenditure. The company will also deploy artificial intelligence (AI) tools to increase productivity while improving monetization for its Reels product. Reels plays across both Facebook and Instagram have more than doubled year over year and show significant promise if Meta Platforms can increase this format's monetization rate.
Now what
Meta Platforms is wasting no time in researching better ways to improve its products. Zuckerberg has recently announced the formation of a new division that will focus on incorporating generative AI into the company's suite of products. Generative AI is a type of AI technology that can produce different types of content that include text, images, and video. With new features, users can then enjoy a more personalized experience while content creators will have more options to play around with.
In line with its new efficiency focus, Meta Platforms is now readying itself for a second round of job cuts that could happen as soon as next week. This new round of layoffs will focus on financial targets and is different from its prior round. The move will probably further reduce Meta Platform's fixed cost base to enable the company to focus on profitability.
Investors should hope that the company can produce tangible results from these moves by the end of this year and that their patience will be well-rewarded.
