Company file · META
Meta
Meta's Reality Labs lost $19.2B in 2025 on $2.2B of revenue
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger earned $102.5B in operating income in 2025. Reality Labs, the headset and glasses unit, lost $19.2B, after losing $17.7B in 2024 and $16.1B in 2023.
Key facts
Meta (Nasdaq: META) closed fiscal 2025 on Dec 31, 2025 with revenue of $201.0B, up 22.2% from a year before; net income came to $60.5B, down 3.1%. Its newest quarterly report covers the three months to Sep 30, 2026: revenue of $64.6B, up 26.1% on the same stretch of the prior year, and net income of $9.9B. Broken down by segment, Family of Apps led with 99% of fiscal 2025 revenue. Sources: 10-K for fiscal 2025 (filed Jan 29, 2026) and 10-Q for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026 (filed Oct 22, 2026).
Source: 10-K FY2025, filed Jan 29, 2026
Source: 10-Q filed Apr 30, 2026 · 10-Q filed Jul 30, 2026 · 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026
How it makes money
By segment, FY2025
Source: 10-K FY2025, XBRL breakdown
Family of Apps brought in 99% of 2025 revenue ($198.8B) and $102.5B in operating income. Reality Labs had $2.2B of revenue and an operating loss of $19.2B.
Source: 10-K FY2025
By user location, FY2025
Share is of the FY2025 total; the last column is the change from FY2024.
Operating income (loss) by segment, FY2025
Negative values are operating losses. Last column: change from FY2024 where both years are profits.
What changed last quarter
Source: 10-Q, quarter ended Sep 30, 2026, filed Oct 22, 2026
The bull case and the bear case
The bull case
- Revenue grew 22.2% in 2025 to $201.0B. 10-K, FY2025
- Revenue in the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026 was $64.6B, up 26.1% on a year earlier. 10-Q, quarter ended Sep 30, 2026
- Operating cash flow rose 26.8% in 2025 to $115.8B. 10-K, FY2025
The bear case
- Net income fell 3.1% in 2025 to $60.5B, even as revenue grew 22.2%. 10-K, FY2025
- Reality Labs had an operating loss of $4.1B in the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026. 10-Q, quarter ended Sep 30, 2026
- Cash and equivalents fell from $35.9B at the end of 2025 to $11.2B at Sep 30, 2026, while total debt rose to $83.7B. 10-Q, quarter ended Sep 30, 2026
- The 10-K says its heavy spending on AI and Reality Labs may not pay off, and lists privacy, content and AI regulation among its risks. 10-K, Item 1A
What optimists and skeptics tend to point to, each tied to a filing. Ticker Sage doesn't pick a side, and neither list is a reason to buy or sell.
What the company does
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, and makes almost all its money selling ads in them. Its Reality Labs unit builds VR headsets, smart glasses and related software.
Family of Apps covers Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, plus Meta AI; it earns money mainly from advertising. Reality Labs makes virtual, augmented and mixed reality hardware such as Quest headsets and AI glasses, and the software and content for them.
Its fiscal year is the calendar year.
Source: 10-K, Item 1 Business
Main risks the company lists
Our plain-English paraphrase of the risk factors in Meta's latest 10-K. Read the original for the full list.
- Users and engagementIf people use its apps less, advertising revenue would suffer.
- Ads and dataAlmost all revenue comes from ads, and limits on the data used to target them, from mobile operating systems or new laws, make ads less effective.
- Platforms it doesn't controlIts apps rely on mobile operating systems and app stores run by other companies.
- AI and Reality Labs spendingHeavy spending on AI infrastructure and Reality Labs may not pay off.
- CompetitionRivals compete for users' time and advertisers' budgets.
- Law and regulationPrivacy, data, content, competition and AI laws, plus lawsuits and investigations, could bring fines and restrictions.
- ControlMark Zuckerberg controls a majority of the voting power, so other shareholders have limited say.
Source: 10-K, Item 1A Risk Factors (the full list, in the company's words)
Three years of key numbers
Every number links to its filing; hover for the XBRL tag. A dash means the number isn't cleanly available, and we don't estimate it.
| US$ | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $134.9B | $164.5B | $201.0B |
| Net income | $39.1B | $62.4B | $60.5B |
| Operating cash flow | $71.1B | $91.3B | $115.8B |
| Cash & equivalents (year end) | $41.9B | $43.9B | $35.9B |
| Total debt (year end) | $18.4B | $28.8B | $58.7B |
| Diluted shares | 2.63B | 2.61B | 2.57B |
- Revenue: Total revenue, almost all of it from advertising.
- Net income: Profit after all costs and taxes.
- Operating cash flow: Cash the business brought in from its day-to-day operations during the year (cash flow statement).
- Cash & equivalents: Cash and short-term investments that count as cash equivalents on the balance sheet. Excludes longer-dated marketable securities.
- Total debt: Current plus non-current portions of long-term debt, at carrying value.
- Diluted shares: Weighted average shares outstanding for the year, including the effect of options and stock awards.
About these numbers
- Revenue by location is based on where the users who see or click ads are, as Meta estimates it.
- Net income in the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026 was $9.9B, against $2.7B a year earlier, when income tax expense was $19.0B (this quarter: $3.1B).
Recent filings
Latest filings
- Oct 216:07 PM ET
Form 4
Meta COO Javier Olivan reports selling 1,575 shares under a 10b5-1 plan
The filing reports 1,575 shares in an open-market or private sale (code S) at $707.20, about $1.1 million in total.
- Oct 214:03 PM ET
8-K
Meta files an 8-K on quarterly results and a material agreement
Meta filed a Form 8-K on Oct 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM ET under Item 1.01 (Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement), Item 2.02 (Results of Operations and Financial Condition), Item 8.01 (Other Events).
- Oct 146:20 PM ET
Form 4
Meta COO Javier Olivan reports selling 1,575 shares under a 10b5-1 plan
The filing reports 1,575 shares in an open-market or private sale (code S) at $728.10, about $1.1 million in total.
- Oct 76:09 PM ET
Form 4
Meta COO Javier Olivan reports selling 1,575 shares under a 10b5-1 plan
The filing reports 1,575 shares in an open-market or private sale (code S) at $728.08, about $1.1 million in total.
- Sep 306:22 PM ET
Form 4
Meta COO Javier Olivan reports selling 1,575 shares under a 10b5-1 plan
The filing reports 1,575 shares in an open-market or private sale (code S) at prices from $748.91 to $750.42, about $1.2 million in total.
Common questions about Meta
How does Meta make money?
Fiscal 2025 revenue: $201.0B. Family of Apps brought in 99% of 2025 revenue ($198.8B) and $102.5B in operating income. Reality Labs had $2.2B of revenue and an operating loss of $19.2B. Source: 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 29, 2026.
What was Meta's revenue in fiscal 2025?
$201.0B, up 22.2% from fiscal 2024 ($164.5B). The year ended Dec 31, 2025; for fiscal 2023 the figure was $134.9B. Source: 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 29, 2026.
Is Meta profitable?
Net income was $60.5B in fiscal 2025 (down 3.1%; fiscal 2024 was $62.4B). That counts as a GAAP profit. The latest quarter, ended Sep 30, 2026: net income was $9.9B. The page's About these numbers section explains what is included. Source: 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Jan 29, 2026.
What did Meta report in its latest quarterly filing?
For the three months to Sep 30, 2026: revenue $64.6B (up 26.1% from $51.2B) and net income $9.9B (up 264.0% from $2.7B). Source: 10-Q for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026, filed Oct 22, 2026.
How much cash and debt does Meta have?
As of Sep 30, 2026: $11.2B of cash and cash equivalents, $83.7B of total debt. Total debt here is current plus non-current portions of long-term debt, at carrying value. Source: 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026.
What are the main risks Meta lists?
The risk factors are in Item 1A of the 10-K filed Jan 29, 2026. This page sorts them into 7 groups (Users and engagement; ads and data; platforms it doesn't control; AI and Reality Labs spending; competition; law and regulation; control). The first group in plain English: If people use its apps less, advertising revenue would suffer. Source: 10-K, Item 1A Risk Factors.
Where do these Meta numbers come from?
The 10-K filed Jan 29, 2026 (fiscal 2025) and the 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026 (quarter ended Sep 30, 2026), as published in the SEC's XBRL data. Click any number to open the filing it came from. Methodology explains how fiscal years and missing numbers are handled.
Disclosures
- Editor holdings in META
- The editor holds no position in Meta (META). As of Oct 25, 2026.
- Trading rule
- The editor does not buy or sell META from 3 days before to 3 days after this page is published or substantively updated.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- The company's SEC filings, linked next to each number.
- Last updated
- Oct 25, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold META, and it doesn't consider your situation.
Compare with peers
| Company | Fiscal year | Revenue | Revenue growth | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MetaMETA | FY2025 | $201.0B | +22.2% | $60.5B |
| AlphabetGOOGL | FY2025 | $402.8B | +15.1% | $132.2B |
| AppleAAPL | FY2025 | $416.2B | +6.4% | $112.0B |
| MicrosoftMSFT | FY2026 | $331.8B | +17.8% | $133.7B |
Each row is that company’s latest fiscal year from its own 10-K, using its own revenue and net income lines. Fiscal years end in different months, and line definitions differ (banks, insurers and oil companies count revenue differently), so this is a rough side-by-side, not a like-for-like comparison.
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New to filings? Learn lists the first explainer topics. Methodology & Disclosures covers where every number comes from.