This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
Key Points
- Meta Platforms is the biggest social media company, with multiple platforms.
- It's been growing well -- but also spending heavily on artificial intelligence.
- Its efforts may pay off handsomely, but some investors are skittish.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is a company you're likely very familiar with. It's earth's biggest social media company, with more than 3.5 billion monthly active users worldwide (up 8% from a year earlier). For context, there are roughly 8.2 billion people on earth -- so that's about 42% of all humans. Those active users use one or more of Meta's "Family of Apps," which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
That alone might be an excellent reason to want to invest in Meta Platforms, because when you serve so many people, if you can wring just a few dollars from each, via advertising revenue, sales of products, etc., you can make a lot of money. Indeed, Meta recently reported "Family Average Revenue per Person" of $14.46 for its third quarter, up from $12.29 a year ago and $10.93 the year before. Total revenue for Meta's third quarter was $51.2 billion, up 26% year over year.
But for me, the most incredible reason to invest in Meta Platforms is its growth potential, given its hefty recent investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Not only have recent investments been significant, but they're projected to continue. Meta's CFO Susan Li recently noted that:
- "[We expect that] our progress on AI models and products will position us to capitalize on new revenue opportunities in the years to come." (This is a reminder that all the spending has a purpose. If Meta succeeds with its strategy, gains will far outstrip costs.)
- "[W]e expect to invest aggressively to meet these [AI] needs both by building our own infrastructure and contracting with third party cloud providers." (Meta is planning to spend tens of billions of dollars on data centers and on designing its own AI chips and hardware.)
- "We also anticipate total expenses will grow at a significantly faster percentage rate in 2026 than 2025." (This is the kind of comment scaring some investors.)
- "Employee compensation costs will be the second largest contributor to growth." (Many have noted how Meta has been hiring AI specialists with fat compensation deals.)
Interestingly, Meta Platforms' considerable spending on AI is a reason that the stock got punished recently, falling as much as 12% on Oct. 30 after the release of the third-quarter earnings report.
The stock's valuation has likely been another issue for many investors, as the share price more than doubled over the past two years and averaged annual gains of nearly 90% over the past three years. When a stock surges that much, it's not unreasonable to expect a pullback. Well, part of that pullback has happened, leaving shares more appealingly priced -- with a recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 22 very close to the five-year average of 21.
If you find yourself intrigued by Meta Platforms, give it a closer look. Note that while the recent third-quarter report spooked some, it also offered some reassurance that the company is operating and growing well: Revenue increased by 26% year over year, and ad impressions grew by 14%, with ad pricing increasing by 10% on average as well.
This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
