NEW YORK, Oct 27 — Meta Platforms Inc painted a bleak picture of the company’s short-term growth prospects on Wednesday, forecasting fourth-quarter revenue slightly below analysts’ estimates even as it projected its expenses will continue to soar.

The disappointing results knocked about US$40 billion (RM188.6 billion) off its stock market value in extended trade, with shares down 13 per cent.

The Facebook parent company beat estimates for quarterly revenue, which fell 4 per cent to US$27.7 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from US$29 billion last year.

That deepened a revenue decline begun the previous quarter, when the company posted a first-ever revenue drop of 0.9 per cent, but was less steep than the 5.6 per cent decline Wall Street had expected, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

More worrying was the company’s estimate that fourth-quarter revenue would be in the range of US$30 billion to US$32.5 billion, under analysts’ estimates of US$32.2 billion.

Meta also forecast that its full-year 2023 total expenses would be in the range of US$96 billion to US$101 billion, up from a revised estimate for 2022 total expenses of US$85 billion to US$87 billion.

That includes an estimated US$2.9 billion in charges in 2022 and 2023 related to "consolidating our office facilities footprint.”

Total costs for the third quarter came in above estimates at US$22.1 billion, compared with US$18.6 billion the year prior. Analysts had forecast around US$20.6 billion.

Net income in the third quarter fell to US$4.40 billion, or US$1.64 per share, from US$9.19 billion, or US$3.22 per share, a year earlier, its worst showing since 2019 and the fourth straight quarter of profit decline.

Analysts had expected a profit of US$1.86 per share. — Reuters