What's going on?

Meta released better-than-expected third-quarter results late on Wednesday, and Zuckerberg won�t be the only one smiling.

What does this mean?

After many extravagant years, Meta�s cost-cutting was always going to be more drastic than your average American�s budgeting session. But by announcing that this year�s expenses will land between $87 and $89 billion, the tech giant trimmed a couple of billion off its previous projections. That was impressive by itself, but then Meta announced that it made 23% more revenue last quarter than the same time last year � better than analysts expected. A quick mental math equation tells you that profit, then, flew past expectations too, a very welcome relief for investors nursing nerves that�ve been frayed by sagging tech stocks recently.

Why should I care?

Zooming out: Head in the clouds, feet on the ground.
Big Tech investors tend to have their heads in the clouds. Literally: they�re drawn to major companies with successful cloud divisions. But advertising sectors are worth an eyeball or two, as well. Ads still dominate Meta and Alphabet�s revenue streams, plus the amount of money funneling into online ads is a reflection of the overall economy�s health. So with Meta more than doubling Alphabet�s 11% bump in advertising revenue, those heady results could be a strong sign that the economy�s gaining strength.

For markets: Time to test the mettle.
Tech stocks used to follow the market�s movements to extremes, often outperforming others during better days and sinking more than most when the tide turned. But the explosion of software products and services brought along reliable subscription-style revenue streams, along with bulletproof balance sheets, which means investors now view Big Tech as a shelter during even the roughest storms. Major tech companies have yet to test this theory against an all-out recession, of course, but they may get the chance very soon.