Meta (META): Apple's privacy policy change 'no longer a drag on earnings', now a tailwind YoY - WSJ

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is finally "starting to see a path to recovery" from the advertising revenue slump the company has been battling since Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) introduction of its app tracking privacy policy change, according to an early Friday report by the Wall Street Journal.

Per the article, META's heavy investments in AI tools have allowed the company "to improve ad-targeting systems to make better predictions based on less data" - a key win in "the company's plan to overcome privacy change."

Facebook and Instagram's parent's executives reportedly told employees as far back as October 2022 that the company is "expected to begin rebounding from Apple’s change as soon as that quarter."

“Year on year, they are a tailwind to our business because of improvements we’ve made on artificial intelligence” - META's Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Analytics Alex Schultz reportedly said in an internal meeting, adding that the privacy change "will no longer be a drag on earnings going forward."

Back in late 2021 Apple introduced "App Tracking Transparency" feature, a privacy policy that allowed users to opt out of tracking when using apps on iOS-run devices - a key feature that ad managers rely on to set up and tweak targeted ad campaigns.

With majority of users choosing not to be tracked, the change became a critical issue for ad publishers - in February 2022, Meta said it will cost the company over $10B in sales in fiscal 2022.

Meta Platforms has its Q4 earnings release scheduled for Wednesday, February 1, 2023, after the market closes.

Shares of META are trading nearly 2.5% higher following the report. The stock is up over 20% YTD so far.

By Vlad Schepkov

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