Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has posted a strong first-quarter performance for 2025, with revenue rising by 16 per cent year-on-year to $42.31 billion.
The results, published in Meta’s Q1 2025 earnings report on Thursday, showed that the company’s underlying growth would have been even higher, up to 19 per cent, when adjusted for currency fluctuations. This points to solid operational momentum across its core platforms.
“Q1 2025 saw meaningful gains in both user activity and financial metrics,” the report noted.
Meta said its family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, had an average of 3.43 billion daily active users in March 2025, a 6 per cent increase from the same month last year.
On the advertising front, Meta recorded a 5 per cent year-on-year rise in total ad impressions delivered across its apps. The average price per ad also increased by 10 per cent over the same period.
While the company’s expenses also climbed, Meta managed to keep them in check relative to revenue growth. Total costs and expenses stood at $24.76 billion, reflecting a 9 per cent increase from the previous year.
Capital expenditure, including lease-related principal payments, came to $13.69 billion for the quarter, underscoring Meta’s continued investment in future growth.
In line with its shareholder returns strategy, the company repurchased $13.40 billion worth of Class A common stock during the quarter.
As of 31 March 2025, Meta reported a healthy balance sheet, with $70.23 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. It generated $24.03 billion in cash flow from operating activities and recorded $10.33 billion in free cash flow.
The company’s headcount reached 76,834 by the end of March, representing an 11 per cent year-on-year rise as Meta continues to build capacity to support its long-term strategic goals.
Looking ahead, Meta projected Q2 2025 revenue to fall between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion. It also expects a slight one per cent benefit from foreign exchange based on current rates.
Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said Meta had revised its full-year expense forecast downward, now anticipating total costs between $113 billion and $118 billion, compared to the previous estimate of $114 billion to $119 billion.
At the same time, Meta raised its capital expenditure guidance to a range of $64 billion to $72 billion, up from $60 billion to $65 billion. Li said the revision was primarily driven by increased spending on data centres and infrastructure hardware, which are needed to support the company’s fast-growing artificial intelligence initiatives.
Meta also maintained that the bulk of its capital expenditure in 2025 would continue to support its core social media operations. The company expects its effective tax rate for the year to range between 12 per cent and 15 per cent.
However, not all the news was positive. Meta acknowledged that it faces mounting regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the European Union and the United States.
The European Commission recently ruled that Meta’s “subscription for no ads” model violates the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Based on feedback from Brussels, Meta anticipates being required to modify the model, a change that could disrupt the user experience in Europe and hurt its regional revenue from the third quarter onwards.
Meta confirmed that it plans to appeal the decision but conceded that adjustments to the service may need to be implemented either during or prior to the appeal process.
Reflecting on the quarter, Meta’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said: “We’ve had a strong start to an important year. Our community continues to expand, and the business is performing solidly.
“We’re also making meaningful strides in AI, with our Meta AI and AI glasses initiatives gaining momentum. Meta AI now has nearly one billion monthly active users,” he said.
