Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, reported its third-quarter earnings on October 28, 2023. The social media giant’s revenue rose 35% year-over-year to $29.01 billion, but still missed estimates by $510 million1. Its earnings increased 19% to $3.22 to per share, which beat expectations by a nickel2. Meta Platforms’ stock rose slightly after the report, and remains up about 20% for the year2.
The company attributed its revenue miss to the impact of Apple’s iOS 14.5 privacy changes, which made it harder for Meta Platforms to target ads to iPhone users1. Meta Platforms also warned that its revenue growth could slow down in the fourth quarter due to supply chain disruptions and regulatory uncertainties1.
Meta Platforms also announced its name change to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, a virtual environment where people can interact with each other and digital content1. The company said it would invest $10 billion this year in developing its reality labs segment, which includes its Oculus VR headsets and Horizon social VR platform1.
Meta Platforms’ stock closed at $308.65 on October 20, 2023, down 1.33% from the previous day3. The stock has a 12-month price target of $329.74, which implies a 6.83% upside potential from the current level4. The stock has a consensus strong buy rating from 36 Wall Street analysts4.