Meta Platforms(US:META) Huachuang Securities·2024-11-07 11:35Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly state an investment rating for Meta Platforms (META) Core Insights - Meta's Q3 FY2024 performance slightly exceeded market expectations, driven primarily by investments in AI, with total revenue of $40.589 billion, a year-over-year increase of 19% [1][3] - The company reported a net profit of $15.688 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 35%, although the growth rate has slowed, marking the lowest level since Q2 2023 [1][3] - The average price per ad increased by 11%, driven by strong demand from advertisers, while the total number of ad impressions grew by 7% [1][14] Summary by Sections 1. Meta's Q3 FY2024 Performance - Revenue and Profitability: Q3 revenue was $40.589 billion (YoY +19%), with a net profit of $15.688 billion (YoY +35%). Operating margin was 43%, and EPS was $6.03, exceeding market expectations [1][3] - Expenditure: Total expenditure for Q3 was $23.2 billion (YoY +14%), with operating costs rising by 19% due to increased infrastructure costs. R&D expenses grew by 21% [4][21] - Capital Expenditure: Capital expenditure for Q3 was $9.2 billion, primarily driven by investments in servers and data centers [4][5] 2. Revenue Breakdown - Family of Apps: Total revenue from the Family of Apps was $40.3 billion (YoY +19%), with ad revenue contributing $39.9 billion (YoY +19%). Operating profit was $21.8 billion, with an operating margin of 54% [7][9] - Reality Labs: Revenue for Reality Labs was $270 million (YoY +29%), driven by Quest headset sales, but the operating loss was $4.4 billion, widening from $3.742 billion in the previous year [21][22] 3. Company Performance Guidance - Q4 FY2024 Guidance: Expected revenue for Q4 is between $45 billion and $48 billion (YoY +12.22% to 19.70%), with an analyst expectation of $46.09 billion [24] - Full Year 2024 Guidance: Total expenditure for 2024 is projected to be around $96 billion to $98 billion, with capital expenditure expected to be between $38 billion and $40 billion [25][26]