Meta says that she predicts continuous growth despite the prices

As President Trump’s prices upset the world trade, many eyes have been on Silicon Valley and how the largest technological companies – including Meta – intend to resist the storm.

On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, Managing Director of Meta, told investors that he had a plan.

During a quarterly call, Mr. Zuckerberg said that his company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, relied on five pillars which he considered his strength. They included the use of artificial intelligence to improve business announcements and increase the time people spend on platforms, earn more money with messaging applications and double AI investments.

The plan already works, he said, adding that it expected strong growth in continuous income in Meta’s advertising activities.

“It was a good start for what I expect to continue to be an intense year,” said Zuckerberg. “Even with our important investments, we do not need to succeed in all these areas to have a good” return on investment.

“But if we do it, I think we will feel very well in what’s going on,” he added.

The optimism of Mr. Zuckerberg was contrasting with the comments made by the leaders of other companies in recent weeks, many of whom have given checkout or have spoken of the benefits that they could see Mr. Trump’s prices. Its remarks have weight because the meta is often considered a bell tower for the technological industry, in particular in online advertising.

For the first quarter, Meta recorded a turnover of $ 42.3 billion, up 16% compared to the previous year and above Wall Street estimates of $ 41.3 billion, according to data compiled by Fostset, a market analysis company. The profit was $ 16.6 billion, up 35% compared to $ 12.4 billion a year earlier and exceeding estimates of $ 13.6 billion.

Meta said it expected a turnover of $ 42.5 billion to $ 45.5 billion for the current quarter, with the high-end above Wall Street expectations of $ 43.8 billion. Its shares increased by more than 5% in trade after opening hours.

Meta’s activities have been robust in recent years, because the company has invested in AI to suggest various publications, videos and users’ advertisements. Mr. Zuckerberg said investments have made people return to Meta applications more regularly and click on more relevant announcements.

But the company is faced with new challenges in the Trump era. Prices can affect some of Meta’s largest initiatives, including billions for infrastructure projects such as data centers, which use raw materials that have been hammered by Trump’s import taxes.

Meta expects to spend even more on these infrastructure investments. On Wednesday, he raised his capital forecasts for this year to $ 64 billion to $ 72 billion, compared to 60 billion at $ 65 billion.

Meta also faced questions about its main source of income: Sell digital advertisements to brands and retailers, large and small. The more small businesses are struck by prices, the less they can afford to spend on Facebook and Instagram.

Trump has established the highest prices on imports from China, and Chinese electronic commerce powers like Shein and Temu are particularly important for Meta’s affairs. In 2023, Chinese companies represented 10% of Meta’s income.

Wednesday’s income did not show an advertising decline, while Mr. Trump’s prices were announced in April and the profits period ended in March.

But when calling the results, Susan Li, Meta’s financial director, said that “some” Asian retailers have already reduced their advertising expenses on the company’s platforms in anticipation of the end of an American commercial escape Friday. The escape, called the exemption from Minmis, exempts goods imported by a value of less than $ 800 of the rights and taxes.

Meta’s financial guidelines take into account “uncertainty” in “how the macro environment will evolve over time,” said Ms. Li, but she avoided directly mentioning Mr. Trump and his economic plans.

The meta is also in progress Antitrust test in Washington On the question of whether it illegally canceled competition in social networks by buying Instagram and WhatsApp when they were young start-ups. The result of the trial of several weeks, which is the first major technological case pursued by the current Trump administration, could reshape the American antitrust landscape and the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

Last week, the European Union said it was Bringing the meta 200 million euros ($ 230 million) for breaking the Digital market actA law in 2022 intended to increase competition in the digital economy.

The company said on Wednesday that it would monitor the “active regulatory landscape”, which could “have a significant impact” of its main activities.