Meta's Profits Jump 35% Thanks to Ads and AI

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, reported a 35% increase in quarterly profits. This boost is mainly due to strong advertising revenue and their push into artificial intelligence (AI). However, they warned about big spending on infrastructure for AI next year. Meta makes most of its money from ads on its platforms. So, a slight drop in daily users also affected their otherwise strong quarter. For September, the average number of people using at least one of their apps daily was 3. 29 billion, just below the expected 3. 31 billion. "Meta needs to make more money from current users as growth slows, " said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. But she thinks Meta can do this with AI tools that show users more of what they like and make ads, especially on Reels, more effective. In the three months ending September 30, Meta earned $15. 69 billion, up from $11. 58 billion a year ago. Revenue also jumped 19% to $40. 59 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $5. 22 per share and revenue of $40. 21 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "We had a good quarter driven by AI progress. " He mentioned AI-powered glasses and the Llama model from Meta AI. For the next quarter, Meta expects revenue between $45 billion to $48 billion. Analysts are expecting $46. 18 billion. "Meta's solid quarter shows big advertisers prefer platforms like Facebook and Instagram over smaller ones, " said Investing. com analyst Jesse Cohen. But Cohen also noted that while AI is helping Meta grow, investors are worried about the company's future guidance and the high costs of developing AI features. Meta's Reality Labs, which includes virtual and augmented reality products, expects to lose more money next year.