Facebook & Instagram Parent Meta Sees Ad Market Volatility In Wake Of Mideast Conflict

deadline.com:

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta blew past Wall Street expectations for the three months ended in September but said it’s seeing advertising volatility in the current fourth quarter corresponding the Israel-Hamas war.

Snap, which also posted upbeat third quarter numbers yesterday, warned of the same. Both companies noted the difficulty in providing Wall Street with financial guidance given the situation.    “Coming into Q4, we’ve been seeing continued strong advertising demand in key segments…but having said that we’re also seeing more volatility at the start of the quarter,” said CFO Suan Li on a conference call along with CEO Mark Zuckerberg after reporting Meta’s latest financials.

The company widened its fourth quarter guidance range to reflect “the greater uncertainty and volatility in the landscape ahead.” “While we don’t have material direct revenue exposure to Israel and the Middle East, we have observed softer ad spend in the beginning of the fourth quarter correlating with the start of the conflict,” she said. “Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by the horrific violence in the Middle East.

We know that our services can be a vital tool for information and connection and expression at a moment like this. We are continuing to monitor the situation and are doing everything we can to keep people safe and to keep our services secure.” The Facebook and Instagram parent blew past Wall Street estimates with re$34.15venue for the September quarter surging 23% to $34.15 billion on rebound in digital advertising.