Credit: Florian Schmetz via Unsplash
Meta lifted revenue 16% to $US42.31 billion in the March quarter as the company doubled down on AI and released a stand alone assistant app.
Ad impressions across platforms increased by 5% in the quarter and the average price per ad was up by 10%.
Advertising revenue was $US41.392 billion, up from $US35.635 billion in the same three months last year.
"We've had a strong start to an important year, our community continues to grow and our business is performing very well," said CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg.
"We're making good progress on AI glasses and Meta AI, which now has almost 1 billion monthly actives."
Staff numbers were up 11% to 76,834.
The company expects June quarter revenue to be between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion.
Emarketer senior analyst Minda Smiley said the robust earnings show that the company's advertising business remained healthy, proof that the controversial ending of its fact-checking program hasn’t done much to deter advertisers.
"But investors and onlookers alike will be much more concerned with what’s to come in Q2 and beyond considering the wildly different economic environment the company now operates in because of Trump’s tariffs," Smiley said.
"On the one hand, the company stands to gain from economic instability. Advertisers will allocate more ad dollars to proven, sophisticated networks like Facebook and Instagram—all while pulling back spend on smaller social platforms—while they navigate uncertainty. And the company’s optimistic Q2 guidance signals that the company isn’t expecting any major dips in ad revenue.
"On the other hand, a small but significant portion of Meta’s revenue comes from Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein advertising to US shoppers.
"That spend is starting to dry up as a result of trade and tariff changes, and Meta ultimately won’t be spared from a broader downturn if advertisers make substantial budget cuts and consumer spending falters.
"Meta is moving full steam ahead with its investments in artificial intelligence, though investors will be concerned about the company’s increasingly costly ambitions in this area—especially since its plans to monetize Meta AI aren’t expected to come to fruition for quite some time.
"And legal concerns—primarily its antitrust trial against the FTC and compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act—adds further uncertainty to its future."
In Australia, Will Easton, managing director, said it has been a strong start to 2025 with Meta’s Family of Apps continuing to grow and be an integral part of the Australian community.
"Our ongoing investments in AI continue to help advertisers connect with their audiences more effectively to drive growth, making us a leading choice for businesses looking to expand into markets both here and overseas," he said.
"We continue to launch new innovative products for our users in Australia and New Zealand, such as yesterday’s release of the Meta AI app built with Llama 4, along with more natural voice interaction.
"We’ve also expanded our retail footprint for the Ray-Ban Meta glasses in Australia and seen increased use of the built-in AI features.”
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