Meta beats 3rd-quarter revenue estimates, issues upbeat sales outlook

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Meta reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue Wednesday and forecast fourth-quarter sales whose midpoint exceeded analysts' estimates.

Revenue climbed 26% from a year earlier to $64.6 billion, surpassing market expectations, while earnings per share stood at $3.83.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram projected fourth-quarter revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion.

Meta shares rose about 2.5% in extended trading following the results.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the launch of the company's Muse personal artificial intelligence assistant and Muse Wonder model as major milestones during the quarter.

More than 10 million people in the US and Canada had set up Muse personal agents over the past month and a half, Zuckerberg told analysts. About 25% of those users were accessing the service on any given day.

Shopping was the assistant's biggest use case, he said, with more than a quarter of users engaging in shopping-related activity and an average purchase value exceeding $200.

Meta narrowed its full-year capital expenditure forecast to between $135 billion and $145 billion, raising the lower end from $130 billion as it expands computing infrastructure for AI agents and foundation models.

Daily active people across its family of applications reached 3.64 billion in the third quarter, slightly below analysts' expectations.

Its Reality Labs division, which develops virtual reality and AI devices, posted revenue of $443 million and an operating loss of $4.13 billion.

Meta also announced plans to introduce non-voting Class C common stock in January 2027, distributing the shares to existing shareholders through a dividend.

The company said the new share class would support financing for growth while maintaining its founder-led structure.

Mücahithan Avcıoğlu