Meta to report earnings amidst tariff and antitrust concerns, stock down 5%

From Yahoo Finance: 2025-04-29 13:22:00

Social media giant Meta will report its first quarter results Wednesday as Wall Street seeks clarity on the impact of President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on US businesses. Meta’s stock price is down over 5% since the start of the year. Google beat earnings expectations, citing strength in ad sales.

During Google’s investor call, CBO Philipp Schindler mentioned the potential economic impact of the Trump administration’s changes to de minimis exemptions, forecasting a slight headwind to Google’s ads business in 2025. This will particularly impact Google’s APAC-based retail customers.

Meta is expected to report earnings per share of $5.25 on revenue of $41.3 billion for the quarter. Advertising revenue is expected to reach $40.5 billion, while Meta’s Reality Labs segment is set to report an operating loss of $4.5 billion and revenue of $496 million. Analysts predict a more conservative guide for Q2.

Meta’s earnings come as the company battles the FTC in court over claims of holding an illegal monopoly in personal social networking. The FTC is seeking to force Meta to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp as a remedy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered to settle with the FTC for $1 billion, but the FTC demanded $18 billion.

Zuckerberg has met with President Trump multiple times recently, attending his inauguration and donating $1 million to his inauguration fund. The relationship between the two is being closely watched as Meta continues to face legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny.

Read more: Meta to report first quarter earnings as tariff, antitrust fears loom