Facebook-parent Meta sees strong second-quarter revenue

Shares soar 9% in extended trading.

Meta’s total number of job cuts since November has come to 21,000, including another round of cuts announced last week impacting 10,000 of its roughly 87,000 workforce. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA 

Meta Platforms forecast second-quarter revenue above market expectations today as the digital advertising market shifts to tried and tested platforms such as Facebook and Instagram during economic uncertainties, sending its shares 9% higher in extended trading.

The owner of the world's largest social media platforms has benefited from a shift in marketing budgets to proven platforms such as Facebook, helping it stay resilient in a downturn that has hit growth at rivals such as Snap.

Meta, whose stock has risen about 74% so far this year, said it will lay off 10,000 staff this year, making it the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of layoffs after its first mass layoffs during autumn, when it cut 11,000 jobs.

The company expects current-quarter revenue between $29.5bn and $32bn, compared with analysts' estimates of $29.53bn, according to Refinitiv data.

Net profit for the first three months of the year fell to $5.71bn from $7.47bn, a year earlier.

Reuters