Meta Platforms Inc. has emerged as Wall Street’s prime example of a comeback success story.
Just a couple of years ago, the owner of Facebook experienced the most significant market value decline in stock market history. However, the company has made substantial progress since then. On Thursday, Meta astounded shareholders with yet another remarkable quarterly earnings report, underscoring its commitment to cost reduction and the bolstering of billions in profits.
On Friday, the stock surged by 20%, reaching an all-time high of $474.99 per share. This surge added $197 billion to its market capitalization, marking the largest single-session market value addition. It surpassed the $190 billion gains achieved by Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in 2022.
Meta’s post-earnings rally has propelled the stock to the top of the leaderboard for the Top 10 Biggest Single-Day Market Cap Gains.
“Solid execution, faster growth, and increased capital structure efficiency improve the outlook from here,” noted Brian Nowak, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a Friday note.
“Meta’s AI pipeline for both users and advertisers is robust, with more tools set to launch and scale throughout ’24,” he added.
Meta, which reduced headcount by 22% in 2023, revealed plans for a $50 billion stock buyback and announced its first quarterly dividend on Thursday, signaling to investors its financial stability and providing them with a compelling reason to remain invested.
While the company implements significant cost-cutting measures, it remains committed to aggressive spending on artificial intelligence advancements, particularly in generative AI, as well as on background technologies to support its social media products and enhance its ad targeting capabilities.