Menlo Park-based Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion on Wednesday, Oct. 21, up 26% from a year earlier and above the $63.37 billion analysts expected, CNBC reported.
Why it matters: Meta is one of the Bay Area's biggest employers, and its results show both the payoff and the cost of its AI push: more ad money, far higher spending and a smaller workforce.
The numbers
- Net income: $9.86 billion, or $3.83 a share, after a $9.89 billion charge for its August settlement with state attorneys general over teen mental health claims.
- Spending: capital expenditures of $34.91 billion in the quarter. Meta narrowed its 2026 forecast to $135 billion to $145 billion.
- Next quarter: revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, above the $73.73 billion analysts expected, according to LSEG via CNBC.
- Reality Labs: a $4.13 billion operating loss on $443 million in sales.
Fewer workers
Headcount was 66,775, down 15% from a year earlier, Meta said. Finance chief Susan Li told analysts the workforce shrank 12% from the prior quarter, following summer layoffs of about 10% of staff, CNBC reported.
Muse AI agents
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada have set up Muse personal agents in about a month and a half, with roughly 25% using it on any given day. Shopping is the biggest use, he said.
Meta also announced a new non-voting Class C stock, tied to an agreement for Zuckerberg to stay in California: read our Prop 40 story.