Facebook-parent Meta crushes analyst estimates, delivers unexpected gift
The social media giant has a surprise for its shareholders.
Well, Mark Zuckerberg's been having quite a week, hasn't he?
First, the CEO of Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (META) - Get Free Report was publicly-shamed before a congressional committee looking into the "child sexual exploitation crisis" occurring on the major social media platforms.
Linda Yaccarino of X, Jason Citron of Discord, Evan Spiegel of Snap Inc. and Shou Chew of TikTok also testified before the committee.
The lawmakers lambasted the CEOs for the child exploitation and harassment that has occurred on their platforms, and attempted to determine whether they were in support of a number of bills meant to protect kids online.
Zuckerberg, who was making his eighth appearance before Congress, got hammered by the committee members, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) telling him that "you have blood on your hands" and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asking "what the hell were you thinking?"
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).prompted Zuckerberg to apologize directly to a group of assembled parents who said their children had been harmed by social media.
The lambasting likely had many wondering what could happen to Meta Platforms stock next. Fortunately, the company gave shareholders much-need good news when it reported its fourth-quarter earnings, including a special gift shareholders (including Zuckerberg!) will love.
Facebook shares surge on earnings beat
"I'm sorry for everything you have all been through," he told them. "No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."
All in all, it was a pretty tough time for one of the richest people on the planet.
But what a difference a day makes. Just 24 little hours later, Meta Platforms (META) - Get Free Report beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings projections.
The company posted adjusted fourth-quarter earnings per share of $5.33 on revenue of $40.1 billion. Analysts were anticipating adjusted EPS of $4.94 on revenue of $39 billion.
A year ago, the company reported earnings of $1.76 a share on revenue $32.2 billion. So, sales grew by 25% (pretty remarkable growth given the company's size), and earnings grew a jaw dropping 203%.
"This was a good quarter and it wrapped up an important year for our community and our company," Zuckerberg said during the company's earnings call with analysts. "We estimate that there are more than 3.1 billion people who use at least one of our apps each day."
Investors seem to think "good" undersells it. Facebook shareholders reacted enthusiastically to the news, sending Meta stock soaring nearly 21% to $476.40 at last check.
Zuckerberg, who described 2023 as "our year of efficiency" and said that moving forward, "a major goal will be building the most popular and most advanced AI products and services."
The social media giant also boosted its stock buyback authorization by $50 billion and—for the first time ever--initiated a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share.
Facebook-parent Meta unveils first-ever dividend
“Returning capital to shareholders remains an important priority for us,” Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said. "And we believe introducing a dividend really just serves as a nice complement to the existing share repurchase program."
Li added that the dividend "doesn't change the way we determine the total amount of capital we return."
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"We expect the share repurchases will continue to be the primary way that we can return capital to shareholders, but introducing a dividend just gives us a more balanced capital return program and some flexibility in how we return capital in the future."
Deutsche Bank analyst Ben Black said that the dividend could "drive a new class of investor into the stock."
Mark Zuckerberg's net worth gets a dividend bump
The dividend will also work out well for Zuckerberg, who holds 350 million Meta shares, roughly a 13% stake in the company, according to data put together by Bloomberg.
With the dividend, Zuckerberg stands to receive $175 million each quarter, which adds up to $700 million. The dividend is slated to be paid out from March.
The news of Zuckerberg's windfall was treated with some derision on X, formerly Twitter.
“Mark Zuckerberg will now receive ~$700 Million per year from just dividends on his $META shares,” one person wrote over a photo of a smiling Zuckerberg at dinner. “I will get $35 per year in dividends ... we are not the same.”
Facebook $META last night declared a quarterly dividend for the first time ever in its history
Mark Zuckerberg will now receive ~$700 Million per year from just dividends on his $META shares
I will get $35 per year in dividends ... we are not the same pic.twitter.com/5scYFC0g7g— Evan (@StockMKTNewz) February 2, 2024
"Breaking news: Zuck buys all of Maui," read one response.
"If Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have enough cash for a $50 billion stock buy back, they have enough cash to compensate the victims of child sex abuse on their platforms," Hawley, the senator from Missouri, wrote.
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