FirstFT: Meta rewards investors with first dividend and $50bn buyback

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Good morning. We start today with a round-up of the latest Big Tech results, leading with Meta, which has announced its first-ever dividend and an additional $50bn share buyback.

The parent of Facebook and Instagram said the quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share was payable on March 26, in a sign of its continued recovery after a “year of efficiency”. Bumper fourth-quarter results sent its shares up more than 14 per cent in after-hours trading, adding more than $140bn to Meta’s market capitalisation.

Amazon, meanwhile, also saw its share price rise after releasing annual results following the end of trading yesterday. Its shares rose as much as 9 per cent after reporting “a record-breaking holiday shopping season” and forecasting accelerating growth at its closely watched AWS cloud computing division. Amazon also said it was seeing “significant interest” in its generative AI services.

Investors were more wary about Apple, however, due to ongoing concerns about trading in China. Apple’s shares fell 3 per cent in after-hours trading after the company reported a $3.2bn fall in greater China sales in the final three months of last year, reflecting renewed competition from rival Huawei and reportedly tighter restrictions on sales of its products to government employees.

But Tim Cook reported an “all-time revenue record in services” which includes the App Store, iCloud, Apple Pay and Apple TV. Sales at the division rose 11 per cent to $23.1bn.

• Analysis: Meta’s first-ever payout is a “coming of age” moment for Mark Zuckerberg’s company as it hopes to persuade investors to stick with it while it makes costly bets on new products.

• Apple’s new headset: Chief executive Tim Cook’s legacy as an innovator is on the line as the iPhone maker releases its Vision Pro headset to US consumers today.

And here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: Government employment data is expected to confirm that fewer positions were filled last month than in December. The University of Michigan will also release the final reading of its January consumer sentiment index.

• Results: US oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron are expected to post year-on-year drops in revenue and profits when they report annual results. Pharmaceutical groups Bristol Myers Squibb, Regeneron and AbbVie are also expected to release earnings.

• EU-Asean: Delegates from the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet in Brussels to discuss co-operation on areas including trade, green initiatives and the digital transition.

• Groundhog Day: The annual event featuring “Punxsutawney Phil” and a winter weather prediction takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. Mounting losses from banks in the US, Asia and Europe have revived fears over the US commercial property market, which has been under pressure from the shift to homeworking and higher interest rates. Regional US lender New York Community Bancorp revealed it had taken large losses on loans tied to commercial property recently, while Japan’s Aozora Bank and Deutsche Bank warned about the risks from their exposure to US real estate. Here’s what analysts expect from the troubled sector.

2. McKinsey and BCG have been accused of withholding information on ties with Saudi Arabia, as a US congressional subpoena seeks documents related to their work with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The rivals are among four consulting firms summoned to explain themselves at a Senate committee hearing next week on the Gulf nation’s use of “soft power” in the US. Here’s what we know about the inquiry.

2. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva yesterday praised Argentina’s “very pragmatic” president Javier Milei and emphasised the fund’s confidence in his efforts to overhaul the crisis-stricken economy despite a series of political setbacks. Milei, a libertarian economist who took office in December, has pledged to slash spending and rebuild central bank reserves to get Argentina’s troubled $44bn loan programme back on track. Read more on the IMF’s assessment of Milei’s first month in power.

• More IMF news: Kristalina Georgieva also said yesterday that the IMF was “very close” to concluding a loan deal with Egypt which has suffered a loss of income from a drop in shipping usage of the Suez Canal.

4. Joe Biden has approved financial sanctions on Israelis responsible for “extremist settler violence” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. The sanctions mark a rare move by Washington to target the citizens of an allied country, amid rising tensions between the US and Israel over a two-state solution in the region.

• Israeli politics: Israel does not have to hold elections until 2026 but Itamar Ben-Gvir’s threat this week to quit the Israeli government suggests the country’s political class is positioning for a much earlier vote.

Today’s big read

The first term of El Salvador’s millennial president Nayib Bukele has been unusual by both Latin American and global standards. Hosting the 72nd Miss Universe pageant and becoming the first country to recognise bitcoin as legal tender are just two headline grabbing moves that have marked the charismatic leader’s first term. But it is his crackdown on crime and plummeting homicide rates that make Salvadoreans eager for more as they head to the polls on Sunday.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Cycle vs trend: Investors must brace themselves for bigger and more difficult choices, writes Goldman Sachs’ Peter Oppenheimer, as a new inflection point emerges in markets.

• Department stores: The luxury establishments may be no more resilient to the trends ravaging the high street than any other ordinary retailer, writes Sam Jones.

• Interest rates: Policymakers too slow to raise borrowing costs to stamp out rampant inflation now may be too slow to cut them as rising prices recede, says the FT’s editorial board.

Chart of the day

Government targets on net zero along with a desire for greater energy security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led to a surge in new nuclear power projects around the world in recent years. But technical issues, shortages of qualified staff, supply-chain disruptions, strict regulation and voter pushback are holding the industry back. Here’s more on the challenges facing the industry’s revival.

Take a break from the news

The enduring appeal of analogue technology is about much more than nostalgia, writes Deyan Sudjic. What can the digital world learn from devices such as radios and typewriters, which transformed our lives in the 20th century?

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Benjamin Wilhelm