Meta, the social media giant, experienced a significant boost in its shares, surging nearly 10 percent yesterday in the US, driven by a promising revenue forecast powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that bolstered engagement and ad sales despite economic uncertainties.
Following the impressive second-quarter earnings report, 16 analysts revised their target price for Meta, anticipating an addition of over $70 billion to the company’s market value. This substantial growth comes on top of Meta’s already doubled market value throughout the year.
Mark Shmulik of Bernstein praised Meta for being unparalleled in digital ads, highlighting their “monster guidance” with an expected growth rate of +15-24 percent, figures investors had hoped to see possibly in Q4, Reuters reported.
In the same period, Meta’s second-quarter ad revenue surged by 12 percent, surpassing the 3 percent growth seen at Alphabet’s Google. The reports from both digital ad giants signal a recovery in the sector. Meta and Google are poised to add more than $170 billion to their combined market capitalization, surpassing the individual market values of around 90 percent of companies in the S&P 500 index.
However, Meta’s smaller rival, Snap, faced disappointment as ad sales fell short due to advertisers sticking to more familiar platforms.
Meta’s impressive results were further supported by the improved monetization of Reels, a short-form video format competing with TikTok. CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Reels achieved an annual revenue run rate exceeding $10 billion, a significant increase from $3 billion the previous fall.