Meta lifts profits as ad prices rise

Chris Pash
By Chris Pash | 31 October 2024
 
Credit: Oliver Sjostrom vias Unsplash

Meta posted a 35% rise in net income to $US15.69 billion as ad prices increased and more ads were shown across its social media platforms, including Facebook.

Revenue was up a better than expected 19% to $US40.589 billion for the September quarter.

Advertising revenue was $39.9 billion, with the average price per ad up 11% and ad impressions across all platforms 7% higher. 

The company, which has the world's second largest share of digital ad revenue after Google, expects fourth quarter revenue to be in the range of $45 billion to $48 billion.

"We had a good quarter driven by AI progress across our apps and business," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. 

"We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses."

Daily active people was 3.29 billion on average for September, an increase of 5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Will Easton, managing director Meta ANZ, said investments in AI continue to drive innovation, with the rollout of new AI experiences such as Meta AI Voice and accelerated performance for advertisers.

"Australia and New Zealand continue to be important markets for Meta, and we remain dedicated to helping our partners grow, connecting our users with what they love and evolving our safety measures to keep young people safe," he said. 

Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said the result should mean investors remain willing to look past spending on AI and other initiatives.

"The miss in its user metric, daily active people, is concerning, as Meta will need to squeeze more revenue out of its existing users as growth slows," Enberg said.

"Looking ahead, Meta is well-positioned to do so, as its AI-powered tools are boosting engagement by helping show users more of what they like and making its ads, particularly on Reels, more effective.  

"But Meta needs to prove that it can continue to cover its AI costs as they rise next year, and any weakness in its core ad business could make investors nervous as they continue to wait for a return on Meta’s bigger AI bets."

September quarter 2024 numbers:

meta sept q 2024 numbers from announcement oct

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