AI-extracted from the 10-Q filed 2026-10-22 — Q3 FY2026 (quarter ended September 30, 2026). Every figure is machine-verified against the filing text on SEC EDGAR.
Meta's Q3 revenue surged 26% to $64.6B, driven by 26% ad revenue growth from 10% impression growth and 14% price-per-ad increases, but operating income fell 37% due to $9.89B in legal settlements and higher infrastructure spending.
Biggest Revenue Drivers
Family of Apps – Advertising$63.1B+26% YoY
Ad impressions delivered increased 10% YoY and average price per ad increased 14% YoY, driven by ongoing improvements to ad targeting and measurement tools and increased advertising demand.
Family of Apps – Other$1.1B+59% YoY
Increases primarily driven by paid messaging from WhatsApp and subscriptions.
Biggest Revenue Drivers
Total revenue: $64.6B+26% YoY
Family of Apps – Advertising$63.1B+26% YoY
Ad impressions delivered increased 10% YoY and average price per ad increased 14% YoY, driven by ongoing improvements to ad targeting and measurement tools and increased advertising demand.
Family of Apps – Other$1.1B+59% YoY
Increases primarily driven by paid messaging from WhatsApp and subscriptions.
Reality Labs$443M-6% YoY
Decrease driven by lower Meta Quest sales, partially offset by higher sales of AI glasses.
Largest Expense Items
General and administrative$14.9B+323% YoY
Increase mostly due to higher legal-related costs, including $9.89B charge related to August 2026 multistate attorneys general agreement on teen mental health and social media litigation.
Cost of revenue$13.4B+45% YoY
Increase primarily due to higher infrastructure expenses related to data centers, technical infrastructure, and third-party cloud services.
Research and development$20.1B+32% YoY
Increase primarily due to higher infrastructure expenses, employee compensation, and third-party AI token costs related to AI initiatives and data centers.
Marketing and sales$3.3B+17% YoY
Increase mostly due to higher marketing and promotional expenses and third-party AI token costs.
Margins: Operating margin contracted to 20% in Q3 2026 from 40% in Q3 2025, driven by the $9.89B legal settlement charge, elevated infrastructure investments for AI initiatives, and higher employee compensation. The filing notes ongoing investments in AI and data centers will continue to pressure near-term margins.
Watch Items from the Filing
Meta settled youth-related litigation for up to $18.59B with 52 state attorneys general; approximately $12.7B payable over 10 years, with $5.3B contingent on competitor adoption of teen protections. Additional $25B penalty imposed by New Mexico court (under appeal) for 43M+ violations.
Capital expenditures anticipated at $135B–$145B for 2026 to support AI efforts; Reality Labs expected to generate $18B–$19B operating losses for full year 2026, reducing overall profitability.
European regulatory exposure: Digital Markets Act fines of €200M for subscription-no-ads model; ongoing DSA and GDPR investigations; European Commission preliminary findings on systemic risks to minors. Further modifications to ad model may impact European business materially.
Three months ended September 30, 2026 advertising revenue of $63.1B driven by strong pricing (+14% YoY) from improved ad targeting tools and demand; ad impressions growth of +10% YoY driven primarily by Asia-Pacific gains, offsetting declines in higher-monetizing regions.
Headcount declined 15% year-over-year to 66,775 employees by Q3 2026; nine months included $1.18B severance charge from May 2026 reduction of ~8,000 employees, signaling cost discipline amid infrastructure investments.
AI-extracted and verified against SEC EDGAR filing text. Not investment advice.
Powell Dina H.President and Vice ChairmanShares withheld for tax or exercise price · Aug 15, 2026
Songhurst CharlesDirectorShares withheld for tax or exercise price · Aug 15, 2026
Collison PatrickDirectorOption exercise · Aug 15, 2026
Congress trading in META
134 transactions in META reported by 40 members of Congress under the STOCK Act, most recent trade Sep 24, 2026. Reported transactions, not recommendations.
About Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): stock profile, AI score and financials
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) stock profile, AI quality score, and SEC EDGAR financial data, a Technology sector company. 13F Pro's AI-powered ranking engine scores META at 78.0/100 on a composite quality score built from its SEC filings, placing it at rank #57 of 2,925 stocks — the top 5% of the AI-ranked universe. META scores in the top quartile across revenue scale (99.4), balance sheet strength (95.7), profitability (89.4). Shareholder dilution risk is elevated at 15.6/100, reflecting ongoing share issuance or stock-based compensation. Based on the latest XBRL financial filings (Q3 2026), Meta Platforms, Inc. reports quarterly revenue of $64.6B, net income of $9.9B, an operating margin of 20.1%. Top institutional holders of META by reported 13-F value include BlackRock, VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, FMR, based on the most recent SEC filings. META trades on the Nasdaq exchange and files with the SEC under CIK 1326801. 13F Pro's AI research platform runs 10 specialized AI analysts — value, growth, momentum, macro, and activist specialists — that debate META daily and publish AI-generated analysis with cited SEC sources. The platform aggregates historical XBRL financial facts, 10-Q and 10-K filings, insider Form 4 transactions, and institutional 13-F holdings for Meta Platforms, Inc. directly from SEC EDGAR.