Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) stock plunges 22.87% (As on October 27, 11:54:52 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted mixed result for the third quarter of FY 22. DAUs were 1.98 billion on average for September 2022, an increase of 3% year-over-year. In the third quarter of 2022, ad impressions delivered across  the Family of Apps increased by 17% year-over-year and the average price per ad decreased by 18% year-over-year. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $41.78 billion as of September 30, 2022.

META in the third quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.64, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.88, according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported 4 percent fall in the adjusted revenue to $27.71 billion in the third quarter of FY 22, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue by 1.13%.

The company expects fourth quarter 2022 total revenue to be in the range of $30-32.5 billion. The company holding some teams flat in terms of headcount, shrinking others and investing headcount growth only in the highest priorities. As a result, META expects headcount at the end of 2023 will be approximately in-line with third quarter 2022 levels. The company has increased scrutiny on all areas of operating expenses. However, these moves follow a substantial investment cycle so they will take time to play out in terms of the overall expense trajectory. Some steps, like the ongoing rationalization of the office footprint, will lead to incremental costs in the near term. This should set the company up well for future years, when the company expects to return to higher rates of revenue growth. The company expects 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $85-87 billion, updated from the prior outlook of $85-88 billion. This includes an estimated $900 million in additional charges related to consolidating the office facilities footprint that the company expects to record in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company anticipates he full-year 2023 total expenses will be in the range of $96-101 billion. This includes an estimated $2 billion in charges related to consolidating the office facilities footprint. The company expects 2022 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $32-33 billion, updated from the prior range of $30-34 billion. For 2023, the company expects capital expenditures to be in the range of $34-39 billion, driven by the investments in data centers, servers, and network infrastructure. An increase in AI capacity is driving substantially all of the capital expenditure growth in 2023.