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On April 27, Meta announced its first-quarter results for 2022. gross rose 7 % year over year, hitting the middle of its steering of 3 % to 11 % growth. Let ‘s look deeper into the earnings exhaust for clues on what to expect in the approaching months .
A challenging quarter for Meta
The first quarter of 2022 has been an unusual matchless for Meta. Following years of high double-digit tax income growth, the technical school company grew gross by lone 7 %. furthermore, as tax income emergence declined, costs continued to rise at a high rate of 31 % class over year. Consequently, operating income and net income fell by 25 % and 21 %, respectively .
operationally, daily active users across all of Meta ‘s services hit 2.87 billion, up 6 % compared to last year. While ad impressions increased by 15 % in the quarter — thanks to growth in the Asia-Pacific and other regions of the populace — the average price per ad decreased by 8 %, driven by a changing mix of ad impressions toward regions with a lower monetization rate.
The switch in advertising desegregate besides resulted in a worsen in average gross per user in the quarter by $ 0.03 to $ 7.72 .
overall, the latest consequence is extraterrestrial being to investors accustomed to the consistent growth in the top and bottom lines. furthermore, management guided second-quarter tax income to be between $ 28 billion and $ 30 billion. For perspective, tax income was $ 29 billion in the lapp period last year. So at best, it expects 3 % growth ; at worst, it will be a 3 % compression !
What to expect from Meta in the coming months
Meta ‘s late struggles are nothing new, driven by factors such as the change in Apple ‘s io policy and the impact of short-video platforms ( such as TikTok ) that compete for exploiter time. To add salt to the weave, recent macro headwinds like unfitness in e-commerce-driven action during the economic reopen and the war in Ukraine have besides impacted ad income. In finical, Russia has blocked Meta ‘s services while the latter has stopped accepting ads from russian advertisers globally .
While some of the problems mentioned above appear temp, others require addressing from a longer-term perspective. And it ‘s impossible to predict the duration of headwinds from the war.
For example, rival from short-video services will require a long-run plan to reposition the company ‘s services. To this end, Meta is investing heavily to stay relevant to its users. For exercise, it launched its own curtly video serve, Reels, which already makes up more than 20 % of time spent on its Instagram platform. Video as a whole already makes up 50 % of the time people spend on Facebook, and Reels is besides expanding promptly there .
management faces enormous challenges. While we however do not know whether strategies such as Reels can guide Meta out of its problems, the adjacent few months will be harsh for the party, as evidenced by management ‘s guidance. As such, investors should not expect a quick reversion .
A quick look at Meta’s valuation
Meta ‘s holocene decline in contribution price has been severe, so far apprehensible. With many problems to tackle, the technical school caller is not the easiest investing choice for most investors .
The stock ‘s valuation demonstrates investors ‘ pessimism. Its price-to-earnings ( P/E ) proportion fell to around 16, much lower than its five-year average P/E of 29. And since the company is not expecting to regain its former glory anytime soon ( if ever ), there is a prospect that valuation will remain at the current level or fall far .
Yet investors who are convinced in Meta ‘s long-run prospects might find its stream valuation highly attractive. But they will need a draw of solitaire while the management team tries to steer the company out of the storm.
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