Meta's Q1 Revenue Surges 2% to $42.3B, Stock Jumps 6%

Meta Platforms Inc. reported first-quarter revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates, demonstrating that the company's advertising business has so far withstood the trade war initiated by the Trump administration.

The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, announced that its first-quarter revenue was $42.3 billion, surpassing analysts' estimates of $41.4 billion for the quarter ending March 31. Meta also indicated that its revenue for the current quarter would meet analyst expectations and that the company would increase spending as it continues to invest in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

“We are prepared for macroeconomic uncertainty,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg told investors during the company's earnings call.

Meta relies on its advertising business, which accounts for 98% of the company's revenue, to fund its expensive AI expansion. So far, AI has been helping to improve ad targeting and personalize the content people see on social networks.

Meta now expects to spend between $64 billion and $72 billion, up from its previous estimate of $60 billion to $65 billion. The company stated that the latest forecast reflects “increased data center investments to support our AI work, as well as higher expected costs for infrastructure hardware.”

Meta's stock price rose more than 6% in after-hours trading, having previously closed at $549. Stocks of AI computing device manufacturers, including Nvidia, also rose in after-hours trading. Prior to the earnings report, Meta had fallen more than 6% year-to-date, but its performance remained stronger than that of most large U.S. tech stocks amid the market-wide selloff triggered by the Trump administration's trade war and tariff increases.

Meta's first-quarter earnings per share were $6.43, a 37% increase year-over-year, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $5.25.