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A day after Alphabet (GOOGL) – Get Alphabet Inc. Report and Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Microsoft Corporation Report delivered better-than-feared numbers, investors are hoping Meta Platforms (MVRS) – Get Meta Report does the same.
Among analysts polled by FactSet, the consensus is for the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent to report Q2 revenue of $28.91 billion (down 1% annually) and GAAP EPS of $2.54 (down 30%). If Meta’s revenue proves to be in-line with consensus or below, it would be down annually for the first time in Meta’s history as a publicly-traded company.
For Q3 – Meta has been providing quarterly sales guidance in its reports – the revenue consensus stands at $30.36 billion (up 5%).
Eric Jhonsa, Real Money’s tech columnist, is live-blogging Meta’s report, along with an earnings call scheduled for 5 P.M. Eastern Time.
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4:13 PM ET: Meta on its Q3 guide: “This outlook reflects a continuation of the weak advertising demand environment we experienced throughout the second quarter, which we believe is being driven by broader macroeconomic uncertainty. We also anticipate third quarter Reality Labs revenue to be lower than second quarter revenue. Our guidance assumes foreign currency will be an approximately 6% headwind to year-over-year total revenue growth in the third quarter, based on current exchange rates.”
4:11 PM ET: Meta is cutting its full-year expense guidance for the second time this year: It now stands at $85B-$88B, down from $87B-$92B.
At the same time (in what’s perhaps a positive for Meta’s chip and hardware suppliers), Meta’s capex guidance is now at $30B-$34B, slightly tweaked from a prior $29B-$34B.
Meta: “We have reduced our hiring and overall expense growth plans this year to account for the more challenging operating environment while continuing to direct resources toward our company priorities.”
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4:08 PM ET: Meta also announces long-time CFO Dave Wehner “will take on a new role as Meta’s first Chief Strategy Officer, where he will oversee the company’s strategy and corporate development,” effective Nov. 1. Finance VP Susan Li will succeed Wehner as CFO.
4:07 PM ET: Meta guides for Q3 revenue of $26B-$28.5B, below a $30.36B consensus.
Shares are down 3.8% AH.
4:06 PM ET: Results are out. Q2 revenue of $28.82B is slightly below a $28.91B consensus. GAAP EPS of $2.46 is below a $2.54 consensus.
4:00 PM ET: Meta closed up 6.6%. The Q2 report should be out shortly.
3:58 PM ET: Aside from Meta’s sales/EPS figures, any commentary shared about spending cuts will be closely watched. Recent reports suggest job cuts could be on the way.
3:55 PM ET: With an assist from Alphabet’s Q2 report, Meta’s stock has risen 6% today. But shares are still down about 50% YTD and slightly below where they traded 5 years ago.
3:49 PM ET: The FactSet consensus is for Meta to report Q2 revenue of $28.91B and GAAP EPS of $2.54, and to post Q3 revenue of $30.36B (the Q2 report should feature Q3 sales guidance). But given Snap/Twitter’s Q2 reports and other data pointing to a weak environment for social media ad spend, informal expectations might be lower.
3:47 PM ET: Hi, this is Eric Jhonsa. I’ll be live-blogging Meta’s Q2 report (expected shortly after the close) and earnings call.
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