The Prague Post - Meta posts big profit, aims to take AI lead

EUR -
AED 4.19349
AFN 81.586285
ALL 98.81662
AMD 444.02402
ANG 2.057679
AOA 1046.9414
ARS 1259.297851
AUD 1.781488
AWG 2.055064
AZN 1.939171
BAM 1.958111
BBD 2.30492
BDT 138.703693
BGN 1.957717
BHD 0.430278
BIF 3394.520947
BMD 1.141702
BND 1.496967
BOB 7.888309
BRL 6.506506
BSD 1.141547
BTN 97.45301
BWP 15.595405
BYN 3.735909
BYR 22377.366892
BZD 2.293106
CAD 1.578837
CDF 3282.39378
CHF 0.938097
CLF 0.027968
CLP 1072.969462
CNY 8.348469
CNH 8.317782
COP 4903.897201
CRC 574.077504
CUC 1.141702
CUP 30.255113
CVE 110.394316
CZK 25.020431
DJF 203.289915
DKK 7.465752
DOP 67.800015
DZD 151.144226
EGP 58.132176
ERN 17.125536
ETB 153.193393
FJD 2.572026
FKP 0.853494
GBP 0.858046
GEL 3.12787
GGP 0.853494
GHS 17.579747
GIP 0.853494
GMD 81.0609
GNF 9884.665495
GTQ 8.793378
GYD 238.83186
HKD 8.858577
HNL 29.594927
HRK 7.540028
HTG 149.146016
HUF 409.179282
IDR 19266.056617
ILS 4.186782
IMP 0.853494
INR 97.527873
IQD 1495.464889
IRR 48079.946747
ISK 144.916979
JEP 0.853494
JMD 180.43294
JOD 0.809693
JPY 161.683337
KES 147.781925
KGS 99.185441
KHR 4569.392618
KMF 490.362012
KPW 1027.465433
KRW 1623.63744
KWD 0.349567
KYD 0.951323
KZT 592.101368
LAK 24680.126518
LBP 102284.912647
LKR 342.153797
LRD 228.319454
LSL 21.20092
LTL 3.37115
LVL 0.690604
LYD 6.205269
MAD 10.566778
MDL 19.623158
MGA 5181.114548
MKD 61.619595
MMK 2396.742711
MNT 4043.362415
MOP 9.123868
MRU 45.241392
MUR 51.353484
MVR 17.587951
MWK 1979.536171
MXN 22.330386
MYR 5.013224
MZN 73.068849
NAD 21.20092
NGN 1837.158757
NIO 42.009578
NOK 11.893121
NPR 155.925017
NZD 1.906842
OMR 0.439574
PAB 1.141547
PEN 4.221582
PGK 4.655453
PHP 64.567866
PKR 320.667639
PLN 4.293526
PYG 9131.696888
QAR 4.179095
RON 4.978395
RSD 117.388537
RUB 94.510229
RWF 1629.623217
SAR 4.282391
SBD 9.518353
SCR 16.308963
SDG 685.589712
SEK 10.94034
SGD 1.496167
SHP 0.897199
SLE 25.973893
SLL 23940.909779
SOS 652.369901
SRD 42.082
STD 23630.934435
SVC 9.988788
SYP 14844.354824
SZL 21.208122
THB 38.085474
TJS 12.157748
TMT 4.007375
TND 3.418835
TOP 2.673979
TRY 43.714009
TTD 7.754151
TWD 37.096225
TZS 3071.179588
UAH 47.672644
UGX 4184.938901
USD 1.141702
UYU 48.126797
UZS 14702.351139
VES 93.230418
VND 29678.553691
VUV 138.143005
WST 3.16391
XAF 656.732049
XAG 0.034848
XAU 0.000344
XCD 3.085508
XDR 0.817083
XOF 656.72629
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.002538
ZAR 21.230578
ZMK 10276.69518
ZMW 32.392228
ZWL 367.627705
  • RBGPF

    1.2500

    64.7

    +1.93%

  • CMSC

    0.3500

    22.23

    +1.57%

  • RYCEF

    0.0700

    9.65

    +0.73%

  • AZN

    1.3400

    69.21

    +1.94%

  • RIO

    1.6400

    61.26

    +2.68%

  • SCS

    0.2900

    9.91

    +2.93%

  • NGG

    -2.5750

    71.775

    -3.59%

  • GSK

    0.5050

    37.135

    +1.36%

  • BCE

    0.0200

    22.27

    +0.09%

  • RELX

    -0.6300

    52.47

    -1.2%

  • CMSD

    0.2950

    22.305

    +1.32%

  • JRI

    0.3000

    12.64

    +2.37%

  • VOD

    -0.2260

    9.354

    -2.42%

  • BTI

    -0.5500

    42.25

    -1.3%

  • BCC

    3.1700

    96.2

    +3.3%

  • BP

    -0.0700

    28.8

    -0.24%

Meta posts big profit, aims to take AI lead
Meta posts big profit, aims to take AI lead / Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV - AFP/File

Meta posts big profit, aims to take AI lead

Social media giant Meta on Wednesday reported surging profits and revenue for 2024, announcing ambitious plans to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the year ahead.

Text size:

The bullish projection about the company's AI future sent shares in the company spiking by as much as five percent in after hours trading, though this later steadied to two percent.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believed that Meta's AI powers would make it a world leader on the technology, even if he warned that delivering on the hefty investments needed would "take time."

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp saw its net income soar 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year, while fourth-quarter profits jumped 49 percent to $20.84 billion.

Revenue reached $164.5 billion, up 22 percent from 2023, boosted by stronger advertising performance as ad prices rose 10 percent and impressions increased 11 percent across its platforms.

The solid performance comes amid significant shifts in Meta's content policies intended to endear the company to US President Donald Trump.

The company recently announced the end of its US fact-checking program aimed at combating misinformation, a move that followed criticism from conservative voices who viewed such efforts as censorship.

Zuckerberg said that 2025 was going to be a "big year for redefining our relationship with governments."

"We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad," Zuckerberg told analysts.

Meta has also scaled back diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on its platforms, particularly regarding certain forms of speech -- changes that could potentially concern major advertisers who are wary of having their ads appear alongside divisive content.

On the analyst call, Meta's chief financial officer said the changes had not had an impact on ad revenue.

- User growth -

The company's user base continued to grow, reaching 3.35 billion daily active users across its platforms in December 2024, a 5 percent increase year-over-year.

Looking ahead, Meta plans massive infrastructure investments, with expected capital expenditures of $60-65 billion for 2025, primarily supporting AI initiatives. Total expenses are projected to reach $114-119 billion.

"In AI, I expect this is going to be the year when a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant reaches more than 1 billion people, and I expect Meta AI to be that leading assistant," Zuckerberg said.

But he warned the investments would "be expensive for us to serve all of these people, because we are serving a lot of people."

Meta's Reality Labs unit, which encompasses its virtual reality endeavours, posted a lower-than-expected operating loss of $4.97 billion while generating $1.1 billion in sales during the fourth quarter.

The company expanded its workforce by 10 percent to 74,067 employees in 2024, with plans for further growth in technical roles focused on AI development and infrastructure.

Meta last month said it will dismiss 3,600 employees (5 percent of its workforce) identified as low performers, with the intention to bring in new talent to strengthen the company.

While Meta's stock has performed strongly, the company faces both regulatory challenges and emerging competition.

The rise of Chinese startup DeepSeek's more economical AI model has reportedly prompted Meta to establish war rooms to study and potentially adapt the innovations for its own Llama AI models.

The company projects first-quarter 2025 revenue between $39.5-41.8 billion, representing growth of 8-15 percent year-over-year.

This was a lighter outlook than expected and "indicates that Meta's recent content moderation changes may be having an impact on revenue in the coming quarter," said Debra Aho Williamson of Sonata Insights.

Z.Pavlik--TPP