Meta 3Q23 Earnings, Meta Hints at Sluggish Quest 3 Sales

Hello everyone. Meta reported earnings back on October 25th, a few weeks after the company’s Connect conference (discussed in greater detail here). When looking at the competitive landscape, Meta has become one of Apple’s top competitors. Accordingly, we continue to fully cover the company’s business performance and strategy. Let’s jump right in.

Meta 3Q23 Earnings

Meta’s reported 3Q23 numbers were strong.

  • 23% revenue growth

  • 143% operating income growth

  • 168% EPS growth

Much of this strength was expected. Revenue exceeded the midpoint of management’s guidance by just 3%, boosted by a FX tailwind.

Meta continues to see stabilization in its core business of monetizing user attention via advertising. This is the third consecutive quarter that showed such stabilization. A very easy year-over-year compare is certainly helping Meta. The company had a tough 2022. The stronger dollar is helping as well. However, there is legitimate improvement found within Meta’s core business, such as better Reels monetization.

In what is still difficult to get one’s mind around, Meta’s employee count at quarter end was down 24% year-over-year. This is obviously helping to cut expense growth and boost operating margins.

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Ranking Big Tech’s 3Q22 Performance, Zuckerberg Announces Major Round of Layoffs, Disney 4Q22 Earnings (Daily Update)

In today’s update, we go over Neil’s rankings for how Big Tech performed in 3Q22. We discuss Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. The discussion then turns to Zuckerberg’s drastic move to reduce Meta’s workforce by 13%. We conclude with a closer look at Disney’s earnings. Disney management is making one strategic mistake with Disney+.

Hello everyone. Let's jump right into today's update.

Ranking Big Tech’s 3Q22 Performance

CY3Q22 was a mixed bag for Big Tech (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta). Macro issues are not being felt evenly. At the same time, competition is impacting some companies more than others. It’s telling that maybe the biggest surprise to come out of 3Q22 earnings season came in November, after everyone reported,

An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here.

(Members: Daily Updates are always accessible by logging into Slack. If you haven’t logged into Slack before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)

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The daily updates have become widely read and influential in the world of Apple and technology. They are unmatched in the marketplace in terms of comprehensive analysis and research on all things Apple. Members reside in 60 countries and hold a diverse range of backgrounds and occupations. They include Silicon Valley executives and investors, the largest Apple shareholders, and the leading Apple journalists in the business.

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Meta 3Q22 Earnings, Meta’s Fragile Bridge, The Big (Meta) Picture (Daily Update)

In today's update, we will go over Meta’s CY3Q22 results which ended being just as much about industry developments as it did Meta’s performance. In particular, we go over Neil’s thoughts on two problems found with Mark Zuckerberg’s plan on funding future bets and the ultimate bet Zuckerberg is making here.

Happy Wednesday.

Late last week, Apple released its 2022 10-K (58 pages). The tentative plan is to go through the key takeaways from the financial filing tomorrow.

In today's update, we will go over Meta’s CY3Q22 results which ended being just as much about industry developments as it did Meta’s performance.

Let’s jump right in.

Meta 3Q22 Earnings

Last Wednesday, Meta reported 3Q22 earnings.

Here is an earnings recap table comparing Meta's numbers to those of Apple and Alphabet:

An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here.

(Members: Daily Updates are always accessible by logging into Slack. If you haven’t logged into Slack before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)

Above Avalon Membership

\Payment is processed and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members.

The daily updates have become widely read and influential in the world of Apple and technology. They are unmatched in the marketplace in terms of comprehensive analysis and research on all things Apple. Members reside in 60 countries and hold a diverse range of backgrounds and occupations. They include Silicon Valley executives and investors, the largest Apple shareholders, and the leading Apple journalists in the business.

More information about Above Avalon membership, including the full list of benefits and privileges, is available here.