Meta Inventory Pops as Earnings Blow Previous Estimates

Meta (META) reported second-quarter income and income that topped analysts’ expectations, sending shares to new highs in prolonged buying and selling Wednesday. 

The Fb, Instagram, and WhatsApp proprietor’s shares rocketed over 11% larger to $774 in after-hours buying and selling, effectively above final month’s report highs. The inventory was up about 19% for 2025 by Wednesday’s shut.

Meta’s quarterly income grew 22% year-over-year to $47.52 billion, forward of the analyst consensus from Seen Alpha. Its web revenue rose to $18.34 billion, or $7.14 per share, from $13.47 billion, or $5.16 per share a yr earlier, additionally surpassing estimates. 

Promoting income, which makes up the majority of Meta’s income, climbed 21% to $46.56 billion, exceeding expectations.

“On promoting, the robust efficiency this quarter is essentially because of AI unlocking better efficiency and features throughout our advert system,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg instructed traders in the course of the firm’s earnings name.

The CEO stated that the corporate has additionally began to see indicators of its AI methods enhancing themselves. “The development is gradual for now, however simple, and growing superintelligence, which we outline as AI that surpasses human intelligence in each means, we expect is now in sight,” Zuckerberg stated.

Trying forward, Meta stated it expects third-quarter income within the vary of $47.5 billion to $50.5 billion, larger than the $46.29 billion analysts referred to as for.

Meta Expects New AI Expertise To Be Key Driver of Expense Development

Meta stated it now expects $66 billion to $72 billion in capital expenditures this yr, elevating the decrease finish of its projected vary by $2 billion. The corporate stated its capex can be prone to develop in 2026 as Meta continues “aggressively pursuing alternatives” to advance its AI growth efforts.

“Infrastructure would be the single largest contributor to 2026 expense progress,” CFO Susan Li stated, with worker compensation representing the second-largest driver as Meta grows its total headcount and splurges on incentives to draw high AI expertise.

Zuckerberg instructed traders he needs to have “the very best and most elite, talent-dense group” on the firm. The CEO has reportedly been personally concerned in a hiring spree with hefty compensation packages to construct out Meta’s “Superintelligence” unit, with a few of Meta’s latest hires together with former Github CEO Nat Friedman and ex-Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang.

This text has been up to date because it was first printed to incorporate extra data and mirror newer share worth values.