Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, exceeded expectations by posting a net profit of $15.69 billion in the third quarter, a 35% year-on-year increase, further raising its investment forecasts to support the development of intelligence artificial (AI). .
The summer turnover of the world’s second largest online advertising company also exceeded market forecasts, reaching $40.59 billion, an increase of 19%.
“We have had a good quarter stimulated by the advances of AI” in the group’s different businesses and applications, said its director, Mark Zuckerberg, quoted in a statement published on Wednesday.
“Solid revenue growth”
Its stock lost 0.88% around 8:30 pm GMT during electronic trading after the Wall Street close.
“Meta’s strong revenue growth this quarter will help allay concerns about its AI investments,” he adds.
The deployment of tools based on the ChatGPT model, which allow content to be produced from a simple request in everyday language, has forced technology giants to take action, a technology that requires expensive computing infrastructure, a lot of energy and an army of personnel. highly qualified. engineers.
Meta revised upwards its capital investment forecasts again on Wednesday: for 2024 alone, it foresees a range of between 38,000 and 40,000 million dollars (compared to the previous 37,000-40,000 million), much of which will be allocated to AI.
In the first quarter, this caused concern among investors, even though its profits doubled. In spring, the group’s results were reassuring thanks to a further increase in profits, showing that the good health of its core business could support such investments.
Increased investment in AI
The group specifies in its press release that it plans to continue increasing its investments in 2025.
“Investors will be looking for more clarity on the increase in AI spending that Meta has warned them about by 2025. But as long as their core business remains strong, they will be better able to digest the higher costs,” observes Emarketer’s Jasmine Enberg.
Meta’s investments “in artificial intelligence are already paying off in its core business,” he adds in a note before publication.
The group extensively uses technology to recommend content and target advertising to its billions of users using its algorithms.
To try to take the lead in the race for companions/assistants powered by AI, Meta is also betting on conversations with users of its applications thanks to the new version presented in April of Meta AI, its assistant that answers questions from users, such as ChatGPT.
It has gained visibility across the group’s platforms and capabilities thanks to Llama 3, the latest version of Meta’s AI model, comparable to GPT-4 (OpenAI) and Gemini (Google).
Focus on connected glasses
Meta is also committed to the development of connected glasses, in particular thanks to a partnership with EssilorLuxottica, owner of the Ray-Ban brand.
According to analysts, the Ray-Ban connected Meta, which has been on the market for several years, should appear on a good number of Santa’s lists this year, which bodes well for sales in the last quarter.
The group expects sales of between $45 billion and $48 billion in the fourth quarter, according to its press release.
In September, the group presented a prototype of augmented reality and artificial intelligence (AI) glasses, equipped with a camera, headphones and a voice-controlled AI assistant.
Called “Orion”, they also include small projectors to display videos, screens or even people in the form of holograms, all without having to wear a helmet that insulates the user.
Meta has no intention of abandoning the latter, although its subsidiary Reality Labs, responsible for developing devices and software for the metaverse (mixing real and virtual universes through high-tech glasses and helmets), continues to lose revenue. In the third quarter, the loss reached $4.43 billion.
Source: BFM TV
