Meta Platforms shot up more than 15 percent on the stock exchanges in New York on Thursday. The parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp made more profit than expected last quarter and saw the number of users increase again. The numbers reassured investors.
In the previous quarterly report, the share was severely penalized because the social media company could attract fewer users for the first time in its existence.
Facebook managed to increase the number of monthly users by 3 percent in recent months. In total, the platform has more than 2.9 billion users. In addition, the number of daily active users increased by 4 percent. Commenting on the figures, CEO Mark Zuckerburg said that more people are using Meta’s services.
Shortly after opening, the Dow-Jones index rose 0.3 percent to 33,414 points. The broad S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 4,221 points, and tech gauge Nasdaq gained 1.4 percent to 12,666 points. Investors are also looking forward to the quarterly figures of iPhone maker Apple, chip manufacturer Intel and web store group Amazon, which will appear after the closing bell. An unexpected contraction in the US economy caused some turmoil on the macroeconomic front.
McDonald’s was up 0.7 percent after the results were published. The fast-food chain has increased its turnover in the first quarter. This is because the group increased the prices for its hamburgers and other snacks in the American home market, among other things, so that more money came in. The company was also able to compensate for the loss of turnover in Russia, where it closed its restaurants, with solid sales in France and the United Kingdom in particular.
Twitter rose just under 1 percent. The social media company, which reached an agreement with Tesla boss Elon Musk this week about a takeover, saw revenues grow less rapidly in the first three months than in previous quarters. The company found that the war in Ukraine and supply chain problems have made advertisers less eager to advertise when they may not be able to deliver items.
Chip group Qualcomm increased more than 8 percent after well-received quarterly figures. However, excavator, bulldozer and heavy mining truck manufacturer Caterpillar lost 3.3 percent after publishing its results.
