Meta Platforms (META) Tops Q4 EPS by $1.29, Beats on Revenue; Offers Guidance, Q1 Revenue Estimate Weaker than Expected
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) reported Q4 EPS of $8.02, $1.29 better than the analyst estimate of $6.73. Revenue for the quarter came in at $48.39 billion versus the consensus estimate of $47.03 billion.
The company offered the following guidance:
We expect first quarter 2025 total revenue to be in the range of $39.5-41.8 billion vs analyst estimate $41.6 billion (estimate added by the article's author). This reflects 8-15% year-over-year growth, or 11-18% growth on a constant currency basis as our guidance assumes foreign currency is an approximately 3% headwind to year-over-year total revenue growth, based on current exchange rates. This also reflects the effect of lapping leap day in the first quarter of 2024. While we are not providing a full year 2025 revenue outlook, we expect the investments we are making in our core business this year will give us an opportunity to continue delivering strong revenue growth throughout 2025.
We expect full year 2025 total expenses to be in the range of $114-119 billion. We expect the single largest driver of expense growth in 2025 to be infrastructure costs, driven by higher operating expenses and depreciation(1). We expect employee compensation to be the second-largest factor as we add technical talent in the priority areas of infrastructure, monetization, Reality Labs, generative artificial intelligence (AI), as well as regulation and compliance.
We anticipate our full year 2025 capital expenditures will be in the range of $60-65 billion. We expect capital expenditures growth in 2025 will be driven by increased investment to support both our generative AI efforts and core business. The majority of our capital expenditures in 2025 will continue to be directed to our core business.
Absent any changes to our tax landscape, we expect our full year 2025 tax rate to be in the range of 12-15%.
In addition, we continue to monitor an active regulatory landscape, including legal and regulatory headwinds in the EU and the U.S. that could significantly impact our business and our financial results.
For earnings history and earnings-related data on Meta Platforms (META) click here.