Meta Platforms, Inc. META shares surged higher in premarket on Thursday after the social media giant wowed analysts and investors alike with its stellar quarterly results.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led company reported first-quarter earnings per share of $2.20, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02. Revenue climbed 3% year-over-year to $28.65 billion compared to the Street estimate of $27.65 billion.
Among the user metrics, Meta's daily active users rose 4% to 2.04 billion.
The inflection in ad revenue was achieved on the back of investments in AI and products, KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Justin Patterson said in a note. He expects ad revenue acceleration to continue as Meta iterates on product initiatives and markets like Europe recover.
Meta's accent on AI was evident on the earnings call in which the tech was mentioned at least 55 times, either by the management or the analysts participating in the call.
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Following the quarterly results, Patterson maintained his Overweight rating and raised the price target from $240 to $280, suggesting roughly 34% upside potential. A slew of other analysts upwardly revised the price targets as well.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said it was a "Goldilocks quarter" for Meta, adding that the stock will likely continue to go higher.
In premarket trading, Meta rose 12.07% to $234.67, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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