Meta Platforms reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion on Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations amid strong digital ad demand and soaring AI investments. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg also announced a 2-for-1 stock split via a new non-voting Class C share class effective next January.
The tech giant posted a 26% surge in revenue for the three months ended September 30, eclipsing the $63.4 billion analysts had anticipated. Net income reached $9.86 billion, or $3.83 per diluted share, though bottom-line earnings were pulled down by a massive legal charge.
Meta Reports Third-Quarter Revenue Surges On Strong Ad Demand
Meta’s core advertising business powered the revenue beat as ad impressions delivered across the company’s family of apps grew 10% year-over-year. At the same time, the average price per ad jumped 14%.
Family daily active people averaged 3.64 billion in September.
Legal Charge Weighs Heavily On Net Income
Profitability for the quarter took a heavy hit from a 9.89 billion dollar charge linked to an August agreement with a group of state attorneys general. That litigation centered on allegations concerning the well being of children.
The effective tax rate was 24%.
Board Approves New Non-Voting Class C Stock Structure
To fund its heavy artificial intelligence spending, Meta’s board approved a corporate governance change creating a new class of publicly listed, non-voting Class C common stock. The change will take effect on January 19, 2027.
Shareholders will receive a one-time stock dividend of one Class C share for each Class A or Class B share held. The maneuver effectively acts as a 2-for-1 stock split while leaving founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control untouched.
We hit major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone – including launching Muse and Muse Wonder, our first frontier model.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO
Meta Escalates Capital Expenditures For Artificial Intelligence
Meta tightened its capital expenditures guidance for 2026, narrowing and raising the lower end to a range of $135 billion to $145 billion. The elevated spending supports the company’s aggressive infrastructure push for AI models and compute capacity.
Looking ahead to the final quarter of the year, Meta projects total revenue to land between $73 billion and $76 billion.
We hit major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone – including launching Muse and Muse Wonder, our first frontier model.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO
