April 29, 2022: -On Wednesday, shares of Facebook parent Meta increased 18% in extended trading after the company reported earnings that topped estimates even as revenue was disappointing.

For the first time since February’s fourth-quarter earnings report was sent, Meta told investors that the stock came down 26%, its worst day ever. Daily active users, which is declining in the fourth quarter for the first time, bounced back from 1.93 billion to 1.96 billion.

On Wednesday, the after-hours rally still leaves the stock way down for the year. But if the stock continues its surge and ends the trading day up over 19.1%, it would be its second-best day ever, and its huge gain since July 2013. As of the close, the shares had almost lost half their value in 2022.

In addition to the earnings figure, Facebook exceeded average revenue per user expectations. But every other key metric was a miss, including active users of the month.

Revenue increased 7% in the quarter, which marks the first time in Facebook’s 10-year history as a public company that growth has landed in the single digits. Analysts expect 7.8% growth.

For the second quarter, Facebook forecast revenue of $28 billion to $30 billion, which trails the $30.6 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The company said that the guidance considers continued trends from the first quarter, including muted revenue growth that “coincided with the war in Ukraine.”

In October, Facebook changed its name to Meta, which reflects CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to push the company toward working, playing, and studying the future in a virtual world.

Facebook’s family of apps, which include the core app, Instagram, and WhatsApp, accounted for 97.5% of revenue in the quarter. The remaining $695 million came from Reality Labs, the part of the company attempting to build products for the metaverse.

In the family of apps business, net income came down to 13% from a year earlier to $11.48 billion. Reality Labs lost $2.96 billion compared with $1.83 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Facebook lowered its total expenses guidance for 2022 to somewhere between $87 billion and $92 billion, below its estimated $90 billion to $95 billion. It expects most of that expense growth to be driven by its family of apps segment, followed by Reality Labs.