Meta Beats Q3 Revenue Estimates, Issues Strong Q4 Guidance
Meta reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter revenue on Wednesday and issued an upbeat forecast for the current quarter, sending its shares up about 2.5% in after-hours trading. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram posted net income of $9.86 billion, or $3.83 per share, for the July-September quarter, compared with $2.71 billion, or $1.05 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 26% year over year to $64.60 billion from $51.24 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. “We hit major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone - including launching Muse and Muse Wonder, our first frontier model,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the earnings release. For the fourth quarter, Meta projected revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, with the midpoint of $74.5 billion above analysts’ expectations of $73.73 billion, according to LSEG. Muse AI Gains Traction as Meta Expands Its AI Push Meta’s latest results come as the company accelerates its efforts to integrate AI into its consumer platforms and develop more advanced models. The early success of Muse, its personal AI assistant, helped Meta deliver its strongest monthly stock performance since 2022 in September. The tool debuted that month, drawing attention to the company’s push to bring AI agents to a broader audience. While other companies have developed digital assistants capable of organizing email and searching the web for product deals, Meta’s extensive reach through Facebook and Instagram has helped expose AI agents to a mass audience. Meanwhile, Meta and its AI chief, Alexandr Wang, have continued releasing foundation models and related updates at a rapid pace, including Muse Wonder, which launched last Monday. During a call with analysts, Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had created accounts for Muse. Zuckerberg acknowledged that Muse requires substantial computing resources to operate. However, he said Meta expects to improve its cost efficiency by more than 10 times over the next year, “which will enable it to be profitable once the revenue lines are at scale.” Meta Raises Minimum Capex Forecast and Restructures Shares Meta also adjusted its capital expenditure outlook, raising the lower end of its projected range from $130 billion to $135 billion while keeping the upper end unchanged at $145 billion. Separately, the company announced that its board had approved the creation of a new class of publicly listed, nonvoting Class C common stock, effective in January. Under the arrangement, each shareholder will receive one nonvoting Class C share for every share currently held, effectively doubling the number of shares outstanding. Trading is expected to begin in late January 2027. The structure is designed in part to expand Meta’s ability to raise capital for AI infrastructure while allowing Zuckerberg to retain control of the company. The new shares will not carry voting rights. User Growth Rises as Costs and Legal Risks Mount Meta reported that daily active users across its “family of apps” — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp — increased 3% year over year to an average of 3.64 billion. However, the company’s expanding AI ambitions and other costs continued to weigh on its expense base. Total expenses climbed 68% from a year earlier to $51.61 billion, including a charge related to its multistate legal settlement. Meta did not provide revenue guidance for 2027. It did, however, project that losses at its Reality Labs division would narrow to around $15 billion next year as investment shifts toward other areas, primarily AI. Reality Labs develops the company’s augmented reality, virtual reality and related wearable products. Meta also faces a major legal setback. On Wednesday, a judge ordered the company to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found it liable for deceiving users about privacy on Facebook. The ruling represents the largest fine ever imposed against the tech giant, adding another potential financial and regulatory concern as Meta ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and other long-term initiatives.