:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1242122983-c5bbe9e9fc444f5580f8890206821327.jpg "Meta Stock Rises as Company Returns Profits to Shareholders—Key Price Levels to Watch")
key takeaways
- Meta shares surged after the tech giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and announced increased authorization for dividend payments and share buybacks.
- The company reiterated its focus on investing in AI infrastructure and growing its metaverse business.
- Meta shares have surged higher after breaking an ascending triangle, with the stock’s previous record high now becoming an area of future price support during a retracement.
Meta Platform, Inc.
Source: tradingview.com.
Shares of Facebook-parent Meta Platform (META) rose more than 17% before the opening bell on Friday after the member of the Magnificent Seven reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings led by a jump in ad sales and announced its of. Authorization for additional stock buyback as well as first-time dividend payment.
The $1 trillion tech giant said it will issue a dividend of 50 cents a share to investors on March 26 and has authorized a $50 billion increase in its stock repurchase plan. Public companies typically use both dividend payments and share buybacks to return excess profits to investors.
The company reiterated its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse. “We’ve made great progress on our vision of advancing AI and the metaverse,” Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and CEO, said in the company’s earnings statement. “We expect that our ambitious long-term AI research and product development efforts will require increased investment in infrastructure later this year,” he said.
Last month, the Meta chief shared an Instagram video saying the company planned to buy $9 billion worth of Nvidia (NVDA) chips this year to boost its AI computing power. Despite the company’s entry into the metaverse, its Reality Labs division reported a loss of $4.65 billion in the period. However, strong holiday sales of the company’s Quest VR headset pushed the unit’s $1.1 billion revenue by $804 million, which analysts had expected. On the hiring front, Zuckerberg said he expects new additions to be minimal in 2024, with the company focusing on adding employees in areas where investment will increase.
Meta shares continue their bullish rise after breaking out of the ascending triangle – a chart pattern that signals a continuation of the current trend. While earnings-driven gains today are likely to take the stock into uncharted upside territory, it is worth keeping an eye on Meta’s previous record high set around $384 in September 2021 as a potential area of future price support during a retracement or correction. Is the work of.
Meta shares were up 17.1% at $462.35 at about 7:50 a.m. ET. The stock price has more than doubled over the past year.
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