On May 1 (local time), Meta unveiled its financial report for the first quarter, disclosing that both net profit and revenue surpassed market forecasts. Specifically, revenue witnessed a 33% year-on-year surge, marking the most significant growth in the past five years. Nevertheless, its stock price took a nosedive, plummeting by nearly 9%, largely due to investor apprehensions regarding user attrition and a spike in AI capital expenditures. During this quarter, the global user base for Meta's suite of apps dwindled by 20 million compared to the previous quarter. The CFO attributed this downturn primarily to internet disruptions in Iran and Russia's restrictions on WhatsApp access. Despite these challenges, Meta remains committed to funneling substantial funds into its metaverse and virtual reality division, Reality Labs. This quarter, Reality Labs reported an operating loss of USD 4.03 billion. Since independently disclosing its financial performance at the end of 2020, the division's cumulative losses have soared beyond USD 80 billion. Moreover, Meta revealed this month that it plans to lay off approximately 8,000 employees, constituting 10% of its total workforce. This move follows multiple rounds of layoffs, including a 10% reduction in the roughly 15,000-strong workforce at Reality Labs.