Given that President Trump’s tariffs have increased global trade, many eyes were on Silicon Valley and as the largest technology society – including meta – have a storm in the weather.
On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META, told investors that he had a plan.
Mr. Zuckerberg said in quarterly earnings that his company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, would lean on five pillars he saw as his strengths. They included the use of artificial intelligence to improve the company’s advertisements and increase the time people spend on platforms, earn more money from messaging and doubling AI investment.
The plan already works, adding that he expected the advertising business to continue to grow strongly growth in income.
“It was a good beginning of what I expect to be intense for a year,” said Mr. Zuckerberg. “We do not have to succeed with our significant investments in all these areas to have a good return on investment.
“But if we do it, I think we’ll feel wild about what’s going on,” he added.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s optimism has contrasted with the comments of executives in other societies in recent weeks, many of whom gave the muted leadership or talked about a sleep that they could see from Mr. Trump’s tariffs. His notes carry the weight because the meta is often considered to be Bellwether for the technical industry, especially in online advertising.
In the first quarter, the meta reported the income of $ 42.3 billion, which is 16 percent compared to the previous and over the estimates of Wall Street of $ 41.3 billion, according to Factset, market companies. The profit was $ 16.6 billion, which is $ 12.4 billion a year earlier and exceeds estimates of $ 13.6 billion.
Meta said she expected income of $ 42.5 billion to $ 45.5 billion for the current quarter, with the peak of this range beyond Wall Street expectations of $ 43.8 billion. His shares grew by clock trading by more than 5 percent.
Meta’s business has been robust in recent years because the company has invested in AI to propose users various posts, videos and advertising. Mr. Zuckerberg said that investments had maintained people regularly in META applications and clicked more relevant ads.
However, the company faces new challenges in the Trump era. Tarifs can affect some of the largest meta initiatives, including spending billions of infrastructure projects such as data centers that use raw materials that have been hammered with import taxes Mr. Trump.
Meta expects to spend even more on infrastructure investments. On Wednesday, it increased the prognosis of capital expenditure this year to $ 64 billion to $ 72 billion, from $ 60 billion to $ 65 billion.
Meta also faced questions about their main source of income: sale of digital ads to brands and retailers, large and small. The more small businesses are hit by tariffs, the less they can afford to spend on Facebook and Instagram ads.
Mr. Trump has set the highest tariffs for imports from China and Chinese electronic shops such as Shein and Tehu are particularly important for Meta’s business. In 2023, Chinese companies were 10 percent of META income.
Wednesday’s income did not show advertising pullback, because Mr. Trump’s tariffs were announced in April and the earnings ended in March.
But in the call for earnings Susan Li, the META CFO, she said “some” Asian retailers have already reduced their expenses on the company’s advertising in anticipation of the end of the US trading gap on Friday. The gap, called de minimis exemption, exempts imported goods worth less than $ 800 of duties and taxes.
Meta’s financial instructions take into account “uncertainty” in “how the macro environment develops over time,” Mrs. Li said, but avoiding Mr. Trump and his economic plans directly.
Meta also undergoes antitrust court proceedings in Washington about whether it illegally canceled competition in social networks by purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp when they were young start -ups. The outcome of the multiweed court proceedings, which is the first main case that is being prosecuted by the current Trump administration, could transform the US antitrust landscape and the ecosystem of Silicon Valley.
Last week, the European Union stated that a fine of 200 million euros ($ 230 million) stated an attempt to increase competition in the digital economy for violating the digital markets law.
On Wednesday, the company said it would monitor the “active regulatory landscape” that could “significantly affect” its main business.
