Meta calms investors with strong quarterly incomeAFP, SAN FRANCISCOFacebook parent Meta Platforms Inc on Wednesday reported better-than-expected profit in the recently ended quarter, calming investors worried about the toll of competition from TikTok and eased COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Meta owns Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram and virtual reality firm Oculus. Investors had been worried that as the pandemic eased and people socialized more in real life that they would engage less on Facebook. Meta said it ended the quarter with 77,805 employees, an increase of 28 percent from a year earlier. Meta has been investing heavily in a future that Zuckerberg believes will include spending time in immersive virtual worlds referred to as the metaverse.
