Meta's capitalization increased by nearly 200 billion USD in one session

Facebook's parent company's market capitalization rose to a Wall Street record on February 2, thanks to strong earnings and a dividend announcement.

At the close of trading on February 2, Meta Platforms shares increased by 20.3%. This is the biggest daily increase of this stock in the past year.

The company's market capitalization also increased by $196 billion - the largest increase in the history of US-listed companies. This increase surpassed Amazon's previous record of $190 billion in February 2022. Meta's market capitalization is now over $1,220 billion.

The Meta logo was photographed in Paris, France, in June 2022. Photo: Reuters

Meta shares rose after the company announced a $50 billion stock buyback and its first dividend of $0.50 a share. Dividends are common among large, slow-growing companies, but Meta is only the fourth Wall Street tech giant to announce such a policy, after Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.

“Paying a dividend is a signal that the company wants to boost its reputation and be taken more seriously,” said Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell. With 350 million Facebook shares, CEO Mark Zuckerberg can receive a dividend of $175 million each quarter.

The world's largest social network has recently recorded positive business results. Profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by more than 200% compared to the same period last year, to 14 billion USD. Revenue also increased by 25%, to more than 40 billion USD.

Daily active users grew 6% year-over-year to more than $2.1 billion. X rival Threads also reached 130 million monthly active users.

Another highlight of the report on February 1 was that Meta’s average ad price increased 2% compared to the same period a year earlier. Advertising remains the company’s main source of revenue, with $38.7 billion last quarter, up nearly 24%.

Last year, optimism about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) sent shares of Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft and Broadcom to record highs. Meta shares are up 35% year to date.

Ha Thu (according to Reuters)

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