Facebook (Meta) Q1 2022 Earnings Report Recap

FB beat on earnings but missed on revenue

By Matthew Johnston
Published April 28, 2022

Key Takeaways

  • Monthly active people (MAP) came in at over 3.6 billion, just missing analysts' forecasts.
  • MAP measures the size of Meta's user base across its entire family of products. The company monetizes that user base through the sale of ad space on its platforms.
  • Meta's revenue grew in the single digits for the first time since it became a public company 10 years ago.
Facebook (Meta) Earnings Results
Metric Beat/Miss/Match Reported Value Analysts' Prediction
EPS Beat $2.72  $2.54
Revenue Miss $27.9B $28.3B
Monthly Active People Miss 3.6B 3.7B

Source: Predictions based on analysts' consensus from Visible Alpha

Facebook (Meta) Financial Results: Analysis

Meta Platforms, Inc. (FB), formerly and commonly known as Facebook, reported mixed Q1 FY 2022 earnings results. Earnings per share (EPS) beat consensus estimates but were down 17.6% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue came in below analyst forecasts, rising 6.6% year over year (YOY). It was the first time that Meta has recorded single-digit revenue growth. Meta's monthly active people (MAP) also came in below expectations.

The company's shares rose as much as 15% in pre-market trading. Over the past year, Meta's shares have provided a total return of -36.7%, well below the S&P 500's total return of 0.0%.

FB Monthly Active People

Meta's monthly active people (MAP) rose 6% compared to the year-ago quarter to reach just over 3.6 billion. MAP is a key metric that indicates the size of the company's global active user base across all of its platforms. Meta defines MAP as registered and logged-in users of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and/or WhatsApp who have visited at least one of these products through a mobile device app, web, or mobile browser in the prior 30 days. This is distinct from the company's monthly active user (MAU) metric, which is specific to Facebook and/or Messenger.

Meta derives the majority of its revenue through selling advertising space on its social media sites and apps to marketers. The bigger its user base, the more attractive its platform is to advertisers. Historically, a bigger user base also has made it easier for Meta to attract new users, as people want to be on its platforms because their friends are on it, a classic example of the network effect.

FB Outlook

Meta said that it expects its revenue in the second quarter to be between $28 billion and $30 billion. That outlook reflects continued softness from the latter half of the first quarter, which the company said coincided with the war in Ukraine.

Meta's next earnings report (for Q2 FY 2022) is estimated to be released on July 27, 2022.

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Article Sources
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  1. CNBC. "Meta Shares Surge 15% After Facebook Parent Beats Earnings Estimates."

  2. Meta Platforms Inc. "Meta Reports First Quarter 2022 Results."

  3. Visible Alpha. "Financial Data."

  4. TradingView. "Price Chart: FB and S&P 500."

  5. Meta Platforms Inc. "Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021," Pages 4 & 54.

  6. Meta Platforms Inc. "Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021," Page 57.

  7. Investing.com. "Meta Platforms Inc (FB): Financials—Earnings."

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