Meta reported robust financial results on Wednesday, with fourth-quarter revenue rising 23.7% year-on-year to $59.89 billion, comfortably beating Wall Street expectations. Earnings per share came in at $8.88, up 9% from $8.02 a year earlier.
Expenses, which the company already warned would rise sharply this year, jumped 40% to $35.15 billion in Q4 as Meta continued to pour billions into artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The results underline the company’s financial strength even as it ramps up investment in AI data centres to support Meta Superintelligence Labs and goes on an AI hiring spree.
While operating profit for the entirety of 2025 rose 20% to $83.28 billion from $69.38 billion in 2024, net income fell marginally to $60.46 billion. The decline was driven by a 207% surge in provisions for income taxes, which climbed to $25.47 billion following a one-off impact from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in the US in the third quarter of 2025.
“We had strong business performance in 2025,” Zuckerberg said in the earnings call. “I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026.”
On the earnings call, Zuckerberg pointed to a “major AI acceleration” that will continue into next year. “We’re starting to see agents really work,” he said. “This will unlock the ability to build completely new products and transform how we work.”
For the current quarter, Meta forecastd revenue of between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion. For 2026, it expects expenses in the range of $162 billion to $169 billion, driven by infrastructure spending and rising employee compensation, particularly for highly paid AI specialists.
Meta’s shares rose more than 8% in after-hours trading on a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast.
The earnings follow Meta’s aggressive expansion of its AI infrastructure in 2025. This week, the company announced a deal worth up to $6 billion with Corning, a manufacturer of special glass and ceramic materials, to supply fibre-optic cables for its data centres.
Meta is increasingly focused on building what Zuckerberg describes as “personal” superintelligence, merging large language models with the recommendation systems that power Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and its advertising business.
“Today, our apps feel like algorithms that recommend content,” he said. “Soon, you’ll open our apps and have an AI that understands you—and also happens to show you great content or even generate personalised content for you.”
Some investors previously raised concerns about the escalating costs of AI investment, amid broader fears on Wall Street of a potential financial bubble around the technology.
At the same time, Meta has been stepping back from its once-heavy focus on virtual reality and the metaverse. The company has reportedly laid off more than 1,500 employees in its Reality Labs division this week, around 10% of the unit. Reality Labs posted a loss of $6.02 billion on sales of $955 million last year.
Zuckerberg said losses at Reality Labs would be similar this year, with future investment concentrated on glasses and wearables. Sales of Meta’s smart glasses more than tripled last year, he added.
As tech giants expand their data-centre footprints, they are facing increasing political scrutiny over energy consumption and environmental impact. Meta spent $6.4 million on US advertising late last year promoting the job-creation potential of data centres, claiming they have supported 30,000 construction jobs and 5,000 operational roles, though it remains unclear whether those figures are global or US-specific.
Zuckerberg is also due to testify in a landmark trial that began this week, in which Meta and other tech firms are accused of designing social media products that are intentionally addictive and harmful to young people.
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