Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock surged 20% to close out the trading day on Friday, February 2. This record-setting day powered Meta to gain $196 billion for its market cap in a single day. That beat out the previous single-day market cap gain of $190 billion back on February 4, 2022. Where is Meta heading for the rest of the year? Let’s jump in.
This California-based company is engaged in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables around the world. Meta is one of the “Magnificent 7” stocks listed on United States stock exchanges. These dominant companies have been the main drivers for the positive performance of the broader stock market since the beginning of 2023. They are Meta, Tesla, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
Meta unveiled its fourth quarter (Q4) and full year fiscal 2024. In Q4 2024, Meta reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $5.33 on total revenue of $40.1 billion, both beating analyst expectations. Advertising revenue also beat expectations at $38.7 billion. Facebook also reported 2.11 billion in daily active users.
Of course, investors are also excited about Meta’s artificial intelligence research, development, and application. In January, Zuckerberg announced that Meta’s long-term strategy was to develop general artificial intelligence and make it open source.
Shares of Meta currently possess a solid price-to-earnings ratio of 31. Moreover, Meta officially became a dividend stock after this earnings report. It now offers a quarterly dividend payout of $0.50 per share. That represents a modest 0.42% yield at the time of this writing.
Tech Insider
