META Q4 2018 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Meta Platforms, Inc. Q4 2018 Earnings Call
• Date: January 30, 2019 at 10:00 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Mark Zuckerberg (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Sheryl Sandberg (Chief Operating Officer)
  • Dave Wehner (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Deborah Crawford (Vice President of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Q4 total revenue was $16.9B, up 30% year over year and up 33% on a constant currency basis.
• Q4 total ad revenue was $16.6B, up 30% year over year and up 33% on a constant currency basis.
• Q4 mobile ad revenue was $15.5B, increasing 36% year over year and representing approximately 93% of total ad revenue in the quarter.
• Full-year 2018 revenue grew 37% to $56B and the company generated over $15B of free cash flow for the year.
• Q4 net income was $6.9B, diluted EPS was $2.38, and operating income was $7.8B representing a 46% operating margin in the quarter.
• Facebook-only DAUs reached 1.52B, up 9% year over year, and Facebook-only MAUs were 2.32B, up 9% year over year.
• Family monthly active users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger were about 2.7B and family daily actives averaged over 2B.
• Ad impressions increased 34% year over year in Q4 while average price per ad declined 2%, reflecting mix shift toward lower-monetizing surfaces and geographies.

Guidance

• Q1 2019 total revenue growth rate is expected to decelerate by a mid-single-digit percentage on a constant currency basis versus Q4-18.
• Revenue growth rates are expected to continue to decelerate sequentially throughout 2019 on a constant currency basis.
• 2019 total expenses are expected to grow approximately 40% to 50% compared to 2018.
• 2019 capital expenditures are unchanged at a range of $18B to $20B driven primarily by data center investments.
• 2019 tax rate is expected to be a few percentage points higher than the 2018 rate.
• Company expects expense growth to be ahead of revenue growth in 2019 but expects expense growth to align more closely with revenue growth beyond 2019.