Meta reported Q3 revenue of $51.24 billion, up 26% year-over-year

According to Meta’s third-quarter earnings released Wednesday after the Closing Bell, the company generated $51.24 billion in revenue for the 3rd quarter, seeing a 26% surge from last year’s $40.59 ￰0￱ income rose to $20.53 billion, up 18% from $17.35 billion in the same period a year ￰1￱ despite the revenue surge, the company’s net income plunged 83% to $2.71 billion, compared to $15.69 billion last year, due to a massive one-time tax hit tied to new ￰2￱ tax laws under the Trump ￰3￱ said its effective tax rate skyrocketed to 87%, up from 12% in 2024, after recognizing a $15.93 billion non-cash income tax charge resulting from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the ￰4￱ Alternative Minimum ￰5￱ that one-time charge, the tax rate would have been 14%, net income would have reached $18.64 billion, and diluted earnings per share would have climbed to $7.25, instead of the reported $1.05.

Reality Labs drags with $4.4 billion loss Meta’s metaverse division continues to burn ￰6￱ Labs, responsible for VR and AR hardware, reported an operating loss of $4.4 billion in the quarter, while sales totaled only $470 ￰7￱ had expected a larger loss of $5.1 billion on $316 million in ￰8￱ unit builds the Quest VR headsets and the Ray-Ban and Oakley AI smart glasses designed with ￰9￱ company’s Reality Labs division has now recorded over $70 billion in cumulative losses since late 2020, with Meta blaming it on the high costs of building VR, AR and other consumer hardware. “Clearly there is a lift coming from Ray-Ban Meta wearables as a product category,” EssilorLuxottica CFO Stefano Grassi said during a third-quarter earnings ￰10￱ September, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the $799 Ray-Ban Display glasses, the company’s first consumer-ready AI glasses featuring an integrated display and a neural wristband for gesture input.

“We had a strong quarter for our business and our community,” Mark said. “Meta Superintelligence Labs is off to a great start, and we continue to lead the industry in AI ￰11￱ we deliver even a fraction of the opportunity ahead, then the next few years will be the most exciting period in our history.” Despite the upbeat tone, Reality Labs remains a financial sinkhole. Meta’s main business, however, is carrying the weight through its ad ￰12￱ data and 2025 guidance Across Meta’s Family of Apps, daily active people averaged 3.54 billion in September 2025, up 8% from last ￰13￱ impressions grew 14%, and the average price per ad increased 10% ￰14￱ costs and expenses reached $30.71 billion, up 32%, as spending intensified across infrastructure and AI ￰15￱ expenditures for the quarter totaled $19.37 billion, including lease ￰16￱ spent $3.16 billion repurchasing Class A shares and paid $1.33 billion in dividends and equivalents.

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $44.45 billion as of September ￰17￱ cash flow reached $30 billion, and free cash flow stood at $10.62 ￰18￱ company employed 78,450 people, 8% more than a year ￰19￱ ahead, Meta expects fourth-quarter revenue between $56 billion and $59 billion, helped by a 1% tailwind from foreign exchange ￰20￱ company anticipates continued strong ad revenue growth, but weaker Reality Labs sales due to last year’s Quest 3S launch and early retail stocking this ￰21￱ expenses for 2025 are now projected at $116 billion to $118 billion, up from the previous $114 billion to $118 billion range, representing a 22-24% increase ￰22￱ expenditures are forecast between $70 billion and $72 billion, rising from prior guidance of $66 billion to $72 ￰23￱ expects its Q4 tax rate to land between 12% and 15%, assuming no changes to current ￰24￱ ￰25￱ you're reading this, you’re already ￰26￱ there with our newsletter .