Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported record first-quarter sales as the company furthers its momentum with AI in its advertising business.
Meta Platforms on Wednesday reported record first-quarter sales as the company builds on its AI-powered momentum in its advertising business.
Sales rose more than 27% from a year earlier to $36.5 billion, a record high for the January-March period and better than analysts expected. Revenue growth increased slightly compared to the previous quarter, when Meta reported annual revenue growth of his 25%.
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Sales rose more than 27% from a year earlier to $36.5 billion, a record high for the January-March period and better than analysts expected. Revenue growth increased slightly compared to the previous quarter, when Meta reported annual revenue growth of his 25%.
Meta's performance has been fueled by breakthrough advances in artificial intelligence technology that have enhanced ad targeting capabilities. These AI advances will help Meta overcome the challenges posed by privacy changes implemented by Apple, which wiped out the social media company's $10 billion in revenue in 2022.
In April, Meta released its latest large-scale language model, Llama 3, and announced that apps like Instagram and WhatsApp would start featuring the technology more prominently. Llama 3 can instantly generate images and provide the user with an overview of the article.
Investors are betting on Meta's big investment in AI after the company made significant cost-cutting moves during what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 the “year of efficiency.” GraniteShares chief revenue officer Paul Marino said he became concerned about the risks. An exchange-traded fund focused on Meta and other widely traded tech stocks.
The recently released Llama 3 is “open source” and available for free to individual and enterprise users, putting the company in “pole position,” he said. “Public trust in the platform will further increase.”
Email Salvador Rodriguez at salvador.rodriguez@wsj.com.
