Meta Revenue Growth Accelerated as Ad Pricing Rose
Meta raised its 2026 capital-spending outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion as data-center costs climbed.
Meta Platforms (META), the Facebook and Instagram parent, reported faster revenue growth in the first quarter as ad impressions and pricing both picked up, while a tax benefit lifted profit.
Revenue rose 33% year over year to $56.31 billion, accelerating from 24% growth in the prior quarter and extending a four-quarter pickup from 16% growth a year earlier. Sales fell sequentially from $59.89 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting the seasonal step down after the holiday period.
The top-line gain also had help from currency. Constant-currency revenue growth was 29%, up from 23% in the prior quarter, while foreign exchange added 4 percentage points after providing a 1-point tailwind in each of the two previous quarters.
Advertising carried the quarter. Ad impressions rose 19% from a year earlier, improving from 18% in the fourth quarter and 5% in the year-earlier period, while the average price per ad increased 12%, twice the prior quarter's pace.
Audience growth was steadier. Family daily active people totaled 3.56 billion in March, up 4% from a year earlier and down from 3.58 billion in December. Meta attributed the sequential decline to internet disruptions in Iran and WhatsApp access restrictions in Russia.
Net income rose 61% to $26.77 billion, and diluted earnings increased 62% to $10.44 a share. The results included an $8.03 billion income-tax benefit tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which offset part of a $15.93 billion noncash tax charge recorded in the third quarter of 2025; excluding the benefit, earnings would have been $3.13 a share lower.
Costs and expenses rose 35% to $33.44 billion, outpacing revenue growth by 2 percentage points. Operating margin was 41%, flat with the year-earlier period and the fourth quarter, as headcount ended the period at 77,986, up 1% from a year earlier and down sequentially.
Family of Apps revenue increased to $55.91 billion from $41.90 billion a year earlier, while Reality Labs revenue slipped to $402 million from $412 million. Reality Labs' operating loss narrowed to $4.03 billion from $4.21 billion a year earlier and improved from a $6.02 billion loss in the fourth quarter.
Meta kept its full-year 2026 expense outlook at $162 billion to $169 billion and raised its capital-expenditure outlook by $10 billion at both ends, citing higher component pricing and additional data-center costs. Free cash flow rose to $12.39 billion from $10.33 billion a year earlier, while the company again made no share repurchases as capital spending increased.
Source: company public filings.