Meta Platforms is expected to report first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, the latest in a series of releases from prominent tech names. Parent company Facebook has been growing along with other major tech companies, growing about 40% in 2024 after growing nearly 200% the year before. And Meta has been able to weather the current market pullback, gaining more than 2% in April despite the Nasdaq Composite sliding more than 4%. Those moves come as Meta focuses on efficiency and expands beyond social media into artificial intelligence and alternative reality technology. “Magnificent Seven” shares are currently trading about 6% below their all-time highs reached earlier this month as traders brace for the latest news. Here’s what investors should know before the announcement: How the stock last performed When Meta last reported earnings in early February, fourth-quarter results fueled a big rally. The tech giant beat expectations across both product lines and delivered strong guidance for the first quarter. Meta also began paying a quarterly dividend at 50 cents and adopted a $50 billion stock buyback. The stock price rose more than 20% – or more than $80 a share – in the session after printing. By percentage move, that went down in history as Meta’s third-best daily performance ever. Historically, Meta has tended to perform well thanks to its earnings. According to Bespoke Investment Group, the company beat Wall Street forecasts about 87% of the time, and the stock rose an average of 2.3% on earnings days. What the Street Expects For the first quarter, analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings per share of $4.32 and revenue of $36.16 billion. Revenue is expected to grow 26% year-over-year, which, combined with the company’s cost-cutting measures, should result in a huge earnings boost. More broadly, analysts tend to like the stock. The majority of those polled by LSEG rate it Buy, with price targets implying the stock could rise more than 8% over the next year. With the stock’s strong performance and most recent earnings report, Roth MKM chief executive Rohit Kulkarni is now wondering if CEO Mark Zuckerberg can “pull another rabbit” out of his hat. Kulkarni said he was “a little cautious” ahead of the release with figures that are harder to compare and as concerns about European regulations grow. “We believe our path toward mid-teens Q4 revenue growth and >$25 EPS by 2025 could help the stock return to early-April levels and reach new all-time high. “However, we are uncertain whether we will have a clear understanding of such a potential outcome this week.” Key data In addition to the headline numbers, analysts will track a number of smaller data points to better understand how the company is doing. As a social media platform operator, they will look at the total number of daily active users and the number of minutes per active user. If these trend upward, it could indicate higher engagement with Meta-owned apps like Facebook and Instagram. Average revenue per user is another important metric as it can show how much each active user contributes in terms of profits. Some analysts also told clients they would monitor guidance on capital spending all year.