META, the stock of Meta Platforms Inc., a company that owns products such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Meta Quest, Horizon Worlds, Mapillary, Workplace, and Diem which operates in the social media, social network, advertising, consumer electronics, and virtual reality (VR) space has risen by 60% in the first five weeks of 2023 on the back of a positive earnings report released on Feb. 1.
Meta Platforms Inc. exceeds revenue expectations
The company exceeded its fourth-quarter revenue expectations of $31.53 billion by bringing in $32.17 billion and this led METAs price to reach a yearly high of $197.16 on Feb. 2 after opening the year with a trading price of $122.82.
Excerpts of the report disclosed that the daily active user base of Facebook increased to 2 billion from 1.98 billion in the final quarter of 2022. This led to a $163.34 billion increment in market capitalization to $489 billion after opening the year with a valuation of $326 billion.
META gets its mojo back
After losing its grip in the stock market by closing with a capitalization of $271.41 billion, companies such as beverage corporations Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP), computer technology company Oracle (ORCL), a retail store chain Costco (COST), multinational oil and gas company Shell (SHEL), automotive manufacturer Toyota (TM), world’s largest restaurant chain McDonald (MCD), consumer wear brand Nike (NKE), computer software company Adobe (ADBE), media company Netflix (NFLX), telecommunications holding company AT&T (T), and Boeing (BA) surpassed META on the ranks of the most valuable companies across the globe.
With the significant rise in share price, the company currently trails only United Health (UNH), Tencent (TCEHY), Visa (V), Exxon Mobil (XOM), TSMC (TSM), NVIDIA (NDVA), Tesla (TSLA), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Saudi Aramco (2222SR), Microsoft (MSFT), and Apple (AAPL).
Zuckerberg calls 2023 a year of efficiency
After betting big on the metaverse, a growing sector that has been forecasted to be worth $824.53 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.1% and losing, META shed more than 60% of its value in 2022.
On the back of the losses led to a substantial reduction in its staff by a total of 11,000 in November last year. This is why Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement covered by CNBC that this year is a Year of Efficiency and the company is focused on becoming stronger and appreciates the strong engagement across the use of his firm’s applications.
Facebook expanding with Within Unlimited acquisition
Meta has been given the green light to buy Within Unlimited, a maker of virtual reality (VR) fitness application called Supernatural. This comes seven months after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the acquisition in July by accusing Meta of trying to buy its way to the top of the competition in the technology industry.
Such deals which solidify Meta’s position in the development of the metaverse is why 47 analysts surveyed by CNN Business forecasts the company’s stock to reach a median price of $210 and a high price of $275 in the next 12 months.
and then