Even with its aggressive capex spending and ongoing support of the unprofitable Reality Labs division, Meta can still afford to return a significant amount of capital to shareholders. In its latest quarter, it spent $13.4 billion on buybacks and $1.33 billion on dividends. (Meta began paying dividends last year.)

Microsoft and Meta Platforms drove Wall Street higher after delivering profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected.

U.S. technology-related stocks including many involved in artificial intelligence rose sharply on Thursday following stronger-than-expected results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, while investors awaited results from Apple and Amazon.