Meta, the last quarter was difficult. But the users are growing

Half has published i fiscal results for the third quarter of 2022 reporting a new decline in revenues after that of the previous quarter (and even earlier in Q1 2022). The contraction in this case was of 4% – from $ 29 billion in Q3 2021 to $ 27.7 billion in Q3 2022 – but CEO Mark Zuckerberg promises a return to profitability once the current challenges are overcome.

We are approaching 2023 with a focus on prioritization and efficiency that will help us navigate the current environment and emerge as an even stronger company – Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Meta.

The company blames this decline in revenues to exchange rates: if they had remained constant compared to Q3 2021, revenues would have been higher by 1.79 billion dollars, and the 4% decline would have turned into an increase of 2 percentage points.

The good news is about growing users, and this is as true for Facebook as it is for the entire family of platforms that belong to Meta. In summary:

• daily active people (Family DAP): 2.93 billion in September 2022, + 4% every year
• monthly active people (Family MAP, monthly active people): 3.71 billion as at 30 September 2022, + 4% every year
• daily active users on Facebook (DAU, daily active user): 1.98 billion in September 2022+ 3% on an annual basis
• monthly active users on Facebook (MAU, monthly active user): 2.96 billion as at 30 September 2022, + 2% on an annual basis

Advertising impressions are also growing, with an increase of 17% on the whole group of apps that are part of Meta on an annual basis. However, the average price fell by 18%. The company estimates that revenue in the last quarter of the year will be around $ 30-32.5 billion, and exchange rates will still represent “a headwind“.

The 2023 it will be a crucial year for Meta, and 2022 – with its difficulties – is laying the foundations for a hopefully better future for Zuckerberg. Starting from the reduction of personnel in some sectors, counterbalanced by the strengthening of other teams now considered more important for the group’s business. “We expect headcount at the end of 2023 to be approximately in line with Q3 2022 levels“, reads the note.

Among the expenses incurred by Meta in the last quarter (+ 19%) also include those intended for Reality Labs (virtual and augmented reality), which has not been downsized at all as feared last spring and which will instead be subject to increasing investments over the next few years. In Q3 the loss was 3.67 billion dollars, a figure that increases to 9.44 billion if we consider all the first 9 months of the year. In Q3 2021 the loss was equal to 2.63 billion dollars, of 6.89 billion counting the period January-September 2021.

The sign less of Reality Labs makes all the detractors of the Metaverse turn up their noses. Zuckerberg defends his creatureexplaining that it represents one of the four pillars of the company together with virtual reality and its consumer products such as Quest 2, the augmented reality and neural interfaces. “I understand that many people may disagree with this investment, but […] I think this will be a very important thing and I think it is a mistake not to focus on each of these areas which I think will be of fundamental importance in the future“explains Mark Zuckerberg.