Meta’s revenue surges to $64.6 billion, but billions in settlements and skyrocketing AI spending turn screws on profit, free cash flow
Source: Fortune ·
Meta exceeds revenue estimates as capex nearly doubles from a year ago.
From the source
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms said Wednesday that third-quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, above the $63.3 billion analysts expected, according to Visible Alpha consensus from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meta reported net income of $9.9 billion, or $3.83 a share, versus $2.7 billion, or $1.05 a share in the year-ago period. Operating income, profit from its core business, fell to $13 billion $20.5 billion a year ago, against the $16.9 billion analysts expected. Operating margin also got squeezed, moving to 20% from 31% last quarter and 40% a year ago. Hours before the results, news broke that a New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay $25 billion in penalties related to the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. A jury previously found more than 43 million violations, which meant Meta’s penalty could have been nearly $220 billion. Meta plans to appeal. The results also come a week after Meta’s Superintelligence Labs launched Muse Wonder to the public, its first…