Meta Posts Strong Q4 Results but Cautious Revenue Outlook Tempers Enthusiasm

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) delivered impressive fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, though its guidance for the current quarter came in slightly below analyst estimates.

For the quarter, Meta reported earnings per share of $8.02 on revenue of $48.39 billion, significantly surpassing analyst projections of $6.73 per share on $47.03 billion in revenue. The company also continued to see growth in user engagement, with family daily active people (DAP) rising 5% year-over-year to 3.35 billion in December.

Looking ahead, Meta forecasted first-quarter revenue between $39.5 billion and $41.8 billion, with a midpoint of $40.65 billion—slightly below the analyst consensus of $41.64 billion. Full-year expenses are expected to range between $114 billion and $119 billion, largely attributed to infrastructure investments. The company also plans to allocate $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures for 2025, focusing on advancing its generative AI capabilities and strengthening its core business operations.

Meta also acknowledged emerging competition in the AI space, particularly from DeepSeek, a Chinese AI firm that has developed a model claiming superior performance at a fraction of the cost of U.S. counterparts. While the long-term impact of such advancements remains uncertain, Meta reiterated its commitment to sustained infrastructure investments as a key differentiator in the competitive AI landscape.