脸书（Facebook）母公司Meta（Nasdaq：META）二季度表现超过市场预期，但其元宇宙部门巨亏超过37亿美元。
Facebook's parent company, Meta (Nasdaq:META), has outperformed market expectations in the second quarter, but its meta-cosm sector has lost more than $3.7 billion.
当地时间7月26日，Meta公布截至2023年6月30日的第二季度业绩，二季度营收为320亿美元，同比增长11%，超过市场预期的310.6亿美元。二季度每股收益为2.98美元，同比增长21%，创2021年四季度以来新高，预期为2.91美元。净利润为77.88亿美元，市场预期为75.04亿美元，去年同期为66.87亿美元，同比增长16%。
On 26 July, local time, Meta announced its performance for the second quarter as at 30 June 2023, with a second quarter revenue of $32 billion, an increase of 11 per cent over the same period, exceeding market expectations of $31.06 billion. For the second quarter, the return per share was $2.98, an increase of 21 per cent over the same period, and was forecast to be $2.91 since the fourth quarter of 2021. Net profits amounted to $7,788 million, with a market forecast of $7,504 million, compared with $6,687 million over the same period last year, an increase of 16 per cent over the same period.
这也是Meta自2021年四季度以来，营收增长幅度首次达到两位数。
This is also the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021 that Meta has experienced double-digit growth in revenue collection.
“我们度过了一个不错的季度。”Meta的CEO马克·扎克伯格（MarkZuckerberg）表示，“我们有着令人兴奋的路线图，包括Llama2、Threads、Reels、正在开发的新人工智能产品以及今年秋天推出的Quest3。”
“We have had a good season.” According to the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, “We have an exciting road map, including Llama2, Threads, Reels, the new artificial intelligence products being developed and the Quest3 launched this fall.”
截至7月26日收盘，Meta股价涨1.389%，报收298.57美元，年内涨幅148%，超预期的业绩表现也推动盘后股价一度涨超8%。
As at the closing date of 26 July, the value of Meta's shares had increased by 1,389 per cent, against $298.57, representing an increase of 148 per cent during the year, and the over-expected performance had contributed to a one-time increase of 8 per cent in the value of the stock.
元宇宙业务持续亏损，扎克伯格：这是长期赌注
Zuckerberg: It's a long-term bet.
《华尔街日报》称，广告业务的反弹、Reels的变现以及人工智能驱动的广告定向投放和衡量都对第二财季的业绩做出了贡献。
According to the Wall Street Journal, the rebound of the advertising business, the realization of Reels and the targeted placement and measurement of artificial intelligence-driven advertising contributed to the performance of the second fiscal season.
分业务来看，Meta的应用系列部门（包括Instagram、Facebook和WhatsApp）推动了收入增长，广告展示次数增加34%。财报显示，该部门收入为317亿美元，超出分析师预期的305亿美元，同比增长12%。
By branch, Meta’s application series (including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp) boosted income growth by 34 per cent, with advertising shows an increase of 34 per cent. The financial statements showed that the sector’s revenue was $31.7 billion, exceeding the analyst’s forecast of $30.5 billion, an increase of 12 per cent over the same period.
负责虚拟现实和虚拟现实业务的RealityLabs（现实实验室）部门本季度巨亏达到37.3亿美元，高于预期的36.8亿美元，也高于去年同期的28亿美元。现实实验室主要负责的是“元宇宙”相关业务。
The Reality Labs (real laboratory) department, responsible for virtual reality and virtual reality business, had a huge loss of $3.73 billion this quarter, a higher than expected $3.68 billion, and $2.8 billion over the same period last year. The real laboratory was primarily responsible for “megaspace”-related operations.
“我们需要看的是长远的前景。”谈到这一部分的亏损，财报后的电话会议中，扎克伯格坦言，他认为，新的平台在未来几十年将以一种非常深刻的方式开启新的用户体验，从商业角度来看，尽管近期现实实验室表现不佳，但公司正在对未来的基础设施做出相应尝试，尽管短期内可能会让投资者感到不安，但“这是一个长期的赌注”。
“We need to see the long-term future.” Speaking of this part of the deficit, Zuckerberg, speaking at a post-fiscal teleconference, stated that he believed that the new platform would open up new user experiences in a very profound way in the coming decades and that, from a commercial point of view, despite the poor performance of the real laboratory in the recent past, companies were making corresponding attempts at future infrastructure, and that although investors might be disturbed in the short term, it was “a long-term bet”.
“很多公司在这方面并没有大的举措，这对于整个行业来说是非常不幸的。”扎克伯格表示，随着平台的基础设施进一步加强，未来将会有新的变现机会，以后将考虑把现实实验室和公司旗下其他产品和APP联动起来，发挥更多价值。
“Many companies do not have big initiatives in this regard, which is unfortunate for the industry as a whole.” Zuckerberg suggests that as the platform's infrastructure is further strengthened, there will be new opportunities for future realization, and that consideration will be given to linking real laboratories and other products under the company's flag with APPs to add value.
另一位Meta高管则坦言，将以长时间来评估在这方面的投资回报，“近期我们会专注提升现有产品的使用率和效率，我们已经预料到亏损会同比增加，但在业务发展方面，我们的雄心没有变化，我们认为现实实验室将帮助我们实现长期增长。”
Another Meta executive has said that the return on investment in this area will be assessed over a long period of time, “in the near future, we will focus on increasing the use and efficiency of existing products, and we have anticipated a similar increase in losses, but in business development, our ambitions remain unchanged, and we believe that real laboratories will help us to achieve long-term growth”.
值得注意的是，现实实验室已经连续两年亏损百亿美元以上，去年共计亏损137.17亿美元，2021年亏损101.93亿美元。此前Meta曾在一季度财报中预警，预计2023年现实实验室的运营亏损将继续增长。
It is worth noting that the real laboratory has lost more than $10 billion for two consecutive years, totalling $13,717 million last year and $10,193 million in 2021. Prior to that, Meta had warned in a quarterly financial statement that real laboratory operating losses were expected to continue to grow in 2023.
将加大AI投资，挖掘大模型价值
will increase AI's investment in the value of large models
在财报后的电话会议中，扎克伯格多次提到与AI相关的机会。在此前他曾表态称，Meta不会错过如今的AI浪潮，同时也会继续建设元宇宙相关业务。
Zuckerberg mentioned opportunities related to AI many times in a post-fiscal teleconferencing. He had previously stated that Meta would not miss the current AI wave, but would also continue to build a meta-cosm-related business.
扎克伯格表示，对于AI发展的具体计划，公司内部正在讨论应该上线多少人工智能功能，来应对人工智能需求可能激增的状况。他已经看到人工智能的三个应用场景，包括：广告、聊天机器人助手和公司生产力工具。
Zuckerberg said that, for the specific plans for AI development, the company was discussing how many AI functions should be online to respond to the potential surge in artificial intelligence demand. He had seen three applications of artificial intelligence, including advertising, chat robotic assistants and corporate productivity tools.
今年2月，Meta在官网公布了一款新的人工智能大型语言模型LLaMA。扎克伯格在电话会议中也提到，今年的一大重要事项就是继续挖掘LLaMA的价值，同时继续专注AI和元宇宙的结合，不过，至于二者应该如何结合，他没有给出详细的方案。
In February of this year, Meta published a new large-language model of artificial intelligence, LLama. Zuckerberg also mentioned in a teleconference that one of the most important things this year was to continue to tap into the value of LLama, while continuing to focus on the combination of AI and the meta-cosm, but he did not give a detailed idea of how the two should be combined.
值得注意的是，扎克伯格也谈到了AI的安全问题。“有人说AI一旦发展到一定水平，可能会给人类社会带来危机，我认为还没有走到那一步，目前还是相对安全的。至于之后会怎么样，现在还不清楚。”扎克伯格坦言，但他也承认，对AI安全风险的讨论有一定合理性。
It is worth noting that Zuckerberg also spoke about AI's security problems. “It has been said that once the AI has reached a certain level, it could be a crisis for human society, and I think it's not that far away, and it's still relatively safe. What happens next, and it's not yet clear.” Zuckerberg says, but he also admits that there is some legitimacy in the discussion of AI's security risks.
他强调，对AI风险的担忧不应使企业更加封闭，这将不利于整个生态发展。
He stressed that concerns about AI risks should not lead to greater closure of enterprises, which would be detrimental to ecological development as a whole.
另一外界关注的焦点是Meta裁员的成效。财报显示，截至二季度末，Meta总员工人数同比下降14%，为71469人，Meta表示，截至2023年6月30日，受2023年裁员影响的员工中约一半包含在报告的员工人数中。
Another area of concern is the effectiveness of Meta’s layoffs. The financial statements show that, by the end of the second quarter, the number of Meta’s total staff had fallen by 14 per cent over the same period, to 71,469 and that, according to Meta, as of 30 June 2023, about half of the staff affected by the 2023 layoffs were included in the number of staff reported.
人数减少也体现在整体支出上。Meta目前预测2023年的资本支出为270亿美元至300亿美元，低于之前估计的300亿美元至330亿美元。
The decrease is also reflected in overall expenditure. Meta now projects capital expenditure of $27 billion to $30 billion in 2023, down from the previous estimate of $30 billion to $33 billion.
Meta表示：“预测下调的原因主要包括成本节约，尤其是非人工智能服务器方面的成本节约，以及部分资本支出因项目和设备交付延迟转移至2024年，并不是总体投资计划减少。”
According to Meta, “the projected downward adjustment is due mainly to cost savings, particularly with respect to non-manual smart servers, and to the fact that some capital expenditure was transferred to 2024 due to delays in the delivery of projects and equipment, not to a reduction in the overall investment plan”.
“我们已经度过了显著的裁员时期。”扎克伯格表示，在今年的剩余时间，会为员工创造更加稳定的工作环境，消除业务前进中的障碍。公司会引入新的AI工具来实现内部运营的提升，“在未来几个月时间中，我们要开始为2024年做计划了。”
“We've had a remarkable period of layoffs.” Zuckerberg said that the rest of the year would create a more stable working environment for employees and remove obstacles to moving forward. Companies would introduce new AI tools to upgrade their internal operations, “In the coming months, we'll start planning for 2024.”
尽管有提高效率的要求，但该公司在人工智能和虚拟现实技术方面的投资仍然非常昂贵。Meta表示，到2023年，总支出费用将达到880亿至910亿美元，超过此前管理层给出的预期（860亿至900亿美元）。目前Meta预计，公司明年的总资本支出将较今年增长，主要源于在数据中心和服务器方面的投资，特别是在支持人工智能的专项投资方面。
Despite the need to improve efficiency, the company’s investment in artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology is still very expensive. Meta states that, by 2023, total expenditure would amount to $88 billion to $91 billion, more than previously anticipated by management ($86 billion to $90 billion). Meta now projects that the company’s total capital expenditure next year will increase from this year, mainly from investments in data centres and servers, particularly in support of dedicated investments in artificial intelligence.
对于未来业绩，Meta给出一个乐观的预估，预计第三季度营收在320亿美元到345亿美元之间，超出分析师平均预期的313亿美元。不过，Meta的收入预测并没有说明是否包括最近发布的Threads带来的销售额，这款应用暂时还没有广告。
For future performance, Meta gives an optimistic estimate that it is expected to collect between $32 billion and $34.5 billion in the third quarter, exceeding the analyst’s average projection of $31.3 billion. However, Meta’s revenue projections do not indicate whether the sales brought by Threads, recently released, are included, and the application has yet to be advertised.
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