Will Higher Ad Revenues Aid Meta Platforms Beat Q3 Earnings?

Meta Platforms’ META third-quarter 2024 results, set to be reported on Oct. 30, are expected to reflect the benefits of higher advertising revenues.It is expected to benefit from strong demand from advertisers. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Meta Platforms’ third-quarter advertising revenues is pegged at $39.48 billion, indicating growth of 17.3% year over year.We believe higher ad revenues will help META shares to move higher post third-quarter 2024 earnings release. Meta Platforms currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which implies investors should accumulate the stock right now for better returns. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Meta Platforms shares have returned 69.7% year to date (YTD). Except for NVIDIA NVDA, it has outperformed the rest of “Magnificent 7” over the same time frame. Apart from META and NVDA, the group includes Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT, Apple, Amazon and Tesla.While NVIDIA shares appreciated 183.8% YTD, GOOGL, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla have returned 19.7%, 13.5%, 21.3%, 24%, and 5.7%, respectively. Meta Platforms, Inc. Revenue (TTM) Meta Platforms, Inc. revenue-ttm | Meta Platforms, Inc. Quote Click here to learn how Meta Platforms’ overall third-quarter performance is likely to be.What Do META’s Q3 Estimates Say?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings is pegged at $5.17 per share, up a couple of cents per share over the past 30 days, indicating 17.77% year-over-year growth. Meta Platforms’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 12.61%.Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.Meta Platforms expects total revenues between $38.5 billion and $41 billion for the third quarter of 2024. The consensus estimate for third-quarter revenues is currently pegged at $40.15 billion, indicating growth of 17.58% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.Strong Ad Revenue Growth to Aid META’s Q3 Top LineMETA’s staggering reach and increasing ad impressions (up 10% year over year in the second quarter of 2024) make it one of the most important players in the digital ad sales market apart from Alphabet.META’s advertising revenues (99% of Family of Apps revenues) increased 21.7% year over year to $38.33 billion and accounted for 97.9% of second-quarter revenues. At constant currency, revenues increased 23% year over year.Meta Platforms’ focus on improving ad ranking and measurement by leveraging AI has been a key catalyst driving advertisers’ return on investment. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for advertising revenues in Asia-Pacific is pegged at $8.097 billion, indicating growth of 18.6% in the second quarter of 2024. The consensus mark for advertising revenues in Europe, the United States and Canada, and the Rest of the World is pegged at $9.158 billion, $17.716 billion and $4.947 billion, respectively, indicating 18.6%, 18.5% and 19.6% growth.META Leveraging AI to Boost GrowthMETA has been leveraging AI and machine learning to boost the potency of its social-media offerings, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Effective usage of AI has been helping the company keep its users engaged. AI-driven feed recommendations have been a key catalyst. META has started rolling out Meta AI and is on track to achieve its goal of becoming the most used AI assistant by the end of the year. Meta AI is currently available in more than 20 countries and eight languages. In the United States, Meta Platforms is rolling out new features like Imagine edit, which allows people to edit images they generate with Meta AI.META, which currently has a Zacks Rank #2, is expected to have benefited from the improved quality of recommendations across Instagram and Facebook. Improving content recommendation is driving engagement, a trend expected to have continued in the third quarter of 2024.Threads growth has been noteworthy for Meta Platforms. The company has been focusing on the retention of users, which is expected to have benefited user growth.Meta Platforms is committed to prioritizing user safety and well-being through initiatives to enhance parental supervision, messaging privacy and time management on its platforms. These factors are expected to have driven user base growth in the third quarter of 2024. The consensus mark for Family Daily Active People or DAP, defined as a registered and logged-in user who visited at least one of the Family products (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp) on a given day, is expected to be 3.32 billion for the third quarter of 2024.Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Meta Platforms, Inc. 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