Meta's soaring profits just paid for its first-ever dividend

• Meta says it's going to start paying its first-ever dividend.
• The company's earnings blew expectations out of the water on Thursday.
• Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant also announced a $50 billion stock buyback.

With profits soaring and its shares hitting record highs, Meta has announced its first-ever dividend.

The company declared a dividend of $0.50 per share in its earnings report Thursday for the fourth quarter and fiscal year of 2023.

The cash dividend will be paid quarterly "subject to market conditions and approval by our board of directors," the earnings release said.

Meta CFO Susan Li said in an earnings call Thursday that the payouts would be regular dividends, pending board approval.

It'll be paid on March 26 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 22.

Meta joins other tech firms like Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle in paying a dividend. The company also announced it has authorized a $50 billion buyback boost.

Last February, Meta said it would buy back another $40 billion worth of shares from investors.

Meta's stock was up nearly 14% after-hours Thursday, cruising to a new all-time high.

The company reported $134.9 billion in revenue for the year, up 16% from 2022, and $39.1 billion in net income, up 69% year-over-year.

"We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the earnings release.