Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, posted a net profit of $11.58 billion in the third quarter, up from $4.4 billion in the same period last year, boosted by advertisements and reduced expenses.
According to an earnings release published on Wednesday, the social networking giant’s summer sales jumped 23% year-on-year to $34 billion, a figure that also exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Its shares gained almost 3% in electronic trading after the close of trading.
Expenses came up to $20 billion, compared with $22 billion for the corresponding period last year.
The company carried out major redundancy plans: it now has just over 66,000 employees worldwide, 24% fewer than a year ago.
“We had a good quarter for our community and our business,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as saying in the press release. “I’m proud of the work our teams are doing in artificial intelligence (AI) and mixed reality with the launch of Quest 3, Ray-Ban connected glasses and our AI studio.”
At the end of September, Meta unveiled new generative AI products, including chatbots with personalities and new features for its augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) devices, Ray-Ban glasses and Quest headsets.
The Californian group hopes to make up for lost time in this technology, which is generating a buzz around the world, and to revive the ‘metaverse,’ its ambition to mix digital universes with physical reality.
