By Barbara Ortutay
Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump.
The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $7.79 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the April-June period. That's up 16% from $6.69 billion, or $2.46 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue jumped 11% to $32 billion from $28.82 billion in the year-ago quarter. It's the first double-digit revenue growth for the company since 2021.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.91 per share on revenue of $31.08 billion, according to a poll by FactSet Research.
Facebook had 3.03 billion monthly active users as of June 30, up 3% year-over-year.
Squeezed by a slump in online advertising and uncertainty around the global economy, Meta has cut more than 20,000 jobs since last November. It had 71,469 employees as of June 30, down 14% from a year earlier.
Many other tech companies, including Google parent Alphabet and Amazon, have also cut thousands of jobs.
"There's a lot to feel good about when it comes to Meta right now. It has been able to maintain decent growth in monthly and daily active users across both Facebook and its family of apps, and it has seen strong performance from Advantage, its AI-driven suite of ad automation tools," said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with Insider Intelligence.
For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue of $32 billion to $34.5 billion. That's above the $31.22 billion that analysts are expecting.
Meta's rebound followed a solid earnings report from Alphabet a day earlier.
Meta's stock jumped $14.45, or 4.8%, to $313.02 in after-hours trading in response to the results.
Barbara Ortutay is an AP technology writer
Jean Smart, Ariana Grande, Michael Keaton among hosts for “SNL” season 50
Fresh off her Emmys win, Jean Smart will kick off the landmark 50th season of "Saturday Night Live."
NBC on Thursday announced the lineup of hosts for the season, which premieres Sept. 28. Joining Smart on the first show will be Jelly Roll as the musical act. He was also at the Emmys, singing during the ceremony's in memoriam segment.
It will be Smart's first time hosting "SNL."
Comedian Nate Bargatze will host on Oct. 5, with Coldplay as the musical guest.
Ariana Grande will host Oct. 12, with musical guest Stevie Nicks.
"Beetlejuice" star Michael Keaton will host on Oct. 19, the last show before Halloween, and Billie Eilish will be that night's musical guest.
The host on Nov. 2 will be "SNL" alum John Mulaney, with breakout sensation Chappell Roan as the music guest.
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