As President Donald Trump’s tariffs have upended global trade, many eyes have been on Silicon Valley and how the biggest tech companies — including Meta — intend to weather the storm.

On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, told investors he had a plan.

In a quarterly earnings call, Zuckerberg said his company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, would lean on five pillars that he saw as its strengths. They included using artificial intelligence to improve the company’s ads and increase the time people spend on the platforms, making more money from messaging apps and doubling down on AI investments.

The plan is already working, he said, adding that he expected continued strong revenue growth in Meta’s advertising business.

Return on investment

“This has been a good start to what I expect to continue to be an intense year,” Zuckerberg said. “Even with our significant investments, we don’t need to succeed in all of these areas to have a good” return on investment.

“But if we do, I think we’ll feel wildly good about what’s happening,” he added.

Zuckerberg’s optimism contrasted with comments made by executives at other companies in recent weeks, many of whom have given muted guidance or spoken of the fallout they might see from Trump’s tariffs. His remarks carry weight as Meta is often regarded as a bellwether for the tech industry, especially in online advertising.

For the first quarter, Meta posted revenue of $42.3 billion, up 16 per cent from a year earlier and above Wall Street estimates of $41.3 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet, a market analysis firm. Profit was $16.6 billion, up 35 per cent from $12.4 billion a year earlier and surpassing estimates of $13.6 billion.

Shares surge

Meta said it expected revenue of $42.5 billion to $45.5 billion for the current quarter, with the high end of that range above Wall Street expectations of $43.8 billion. Its shares rose more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading.

Meta’s business has been robust in recent years as the company has invested in AI to suggest different posts, videos and ads to users. Zuckerberg has said the investments have kept people coming back to Meta’s apps more regularly and clicking more relevant ads.

But the company faces new challenges in the Trump era. The tariffs may affect some of Meta’s largest initiatives, including spending billions on infrastructure projects such as data centers, which use raw materials that have been hammered by Trump’s import taxes.