Meta earnings: results and guidance

Meta’s next results are expected on October 21, 2026. Watch whether infrastructure spending leaves meaningful free cash flow.

What has Meta guided for the quarter ending September 2026?

For the quarter ending September 2026, management forecast revenue of $61–64 billion and assumed a negative 1% currency effect. That means overseas sales will translate into fewer U.S. dollars; it does not mean advertisers are spending less. The basic test is whether advertising demand can keep growing as infrastructure costs rise.

Meta has raised its capital-expenditure forecast twice. The 2026 range began at $115–135 billion, rose to $125–145 billion, and now stands at $130–145 billion. Capital expenditure buys long-lived assets such as servers and data centers, and includes principal repayments on finance leases.

Has Meta kept its operating promise?

Meta completed its efficiency programme, which is evidence that management kept an operating promise. It does not prove that every long-term investment earns enough. Shareholders’ say-on-pay vote is advisory, and Meta holds it every three years, so the board retains wide discretion between votes.

What has Meta’s revenue and profit trend been over the last eight quarters?

Profit deteriorated more than gross margin. Operating margin fell because compensation, infrastructure, legal expenses and third-party AI costs increased. Family of Apps operating profit fell to $23,394 million, while Reality Labs lost $4,619 million. The pressure therefore reached the core apps and did not come only from experimental hardware.

What should I watch in Meta’s next results?

The next results, expected on October 28, 2026, should show whether revenue reached guidance, how the legal charge affected profit, and whether infrastructure spending left meaningful free cash flow. Another sales beat would not settle the funding question if little cash remained afterward.