UPDATE—Oct. 30, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect more recent analyst estimates and share price information.

Meta (META) will report earnings after the market closes Wednesday, with investors watching whether the social media giant's stock can keep up its strong performance so far this year.

Analysts expect Meta to post third-🌊quarter revenue of $40.27 billion, surging nearly 18% year-over-year. Net income is projected 🅘to land at $13.58 billion or $5.21 per share, up from $11.58 billion or $4.39 per share a year ago. 

Key Metric: Advertising Revenue

Meta shares popped after the social media giant 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:reported in July that it's seen early gains from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize uꦦser engagement, benefitting its 🎉ad business.

Deutsche Bank analysts told clients earlier this month they expect Meta's AI-driven optimization campaign to continue to bring "durable ad wallet share gains.”

Meta posted advertising reven𝓰ue of $38.33 billion in the second quarter, with the Street cꦑonsensus sitting at $39.56 for the third quarter. 

Business Spotligꦫht: Artificial Intelligence A🤪dvances

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in July that Meta AI is "on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year.” In September, Meta 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:released Llama 3.2, its most capable open-source AI model yet, in its efforts to compete with Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google, and Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic.

Ahead of the company's earnings call, Bank of America analysts called the social media giant a “top AI pick,” pointing to strong core ad growth, growing core app usage among younger users, and the capability of the company’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:large language model.

All but two of the 30 analysts covering Meta tracked by Visible Alpha hold a "buy" or equivalent rating for the stock, with an average price target of $613.72, implying about 3% upside from Wednesday's intraday price.

Meta shares have surged nearly 70% since the start of the year, at $596.21 in Wednesda⛦y morning trading.