Meta doubles profit in Q1, observes 7% YOY growth in its user base

Meta's Q1 results reported a remarkable surge, more than doubling its figures. The company's profit for the January-March period doubled, reaching USD 12.37 billion, or USD 4.71 per share, up from USD 5.71 billion, or USD 2.20 per share, in the corresponding period last year. Additionally, revenue experienced a 27% increase, climbing to USD 36.46 billion compared to USD 28.65 billion the previous year.

In terms of ad revenue, Meta saw a significant jump to USD 35.365 billion from USD 28.101 billion in the same quarter of the prior year. Moreover, the company noted a 6% rise in average ad prices on its platforms.

Meta also observed a 7% year-on-year growth in its user base across its suite of apps, with an average of 3.24 billion users in March across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. However, Meta announced its decision to discontinue disclosing user figures specifically for Facebook.

"It's been a good start to the year," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. "The new version of Meta AI with Llama 3 is another step towards building the world's leading AI. We're seeing healthy growth across our apps and we continue making steady progress building the metaverse as well." 

The company additionally announced plans to boost its capital expenditures mainly attributed to investments in AI. It also anticipates expenses ranging from USD 35 to USD 40 billion, surpassing its previous estimate of USD 30 to USD 37 billion.