Meta grew income 26% yr over yr to $51.24 billion in Q3, based on an earnings assertion, beating analyst estimates on a key metric tied to its promoting enterprise. Spectacular momentum in promoting was attributed to the platform’s developments in synthetic intelligence (AI), that are conserving customers engaged with apps like Fb and Instagram for longer and enhancing Meta’s ad-ranking techniques and efficiency.
“After a number of years of existential hand-wringing, the corporate has discovered its rhythm once more by doing what it does greatest: scaling consideration and monetizing it with ruthless effectivity,” mentioned Jeremy Goldman, eMarketer’s senior director of briefings, in emailed feedback. “Whereas everybody else continues to be pitching AI moonshots, Meta has quietly turned AI into margin. Its advert instruments are sharper, its concentrating on smarter, and its short-form video enterprise is lastly paying off.”
The annual income run price for Meta’s end-to-end AI-powered advert options, together with the Benefit+ suite, has surpassed $60 billion, CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned on a name discussing the outcomes with traders, underpinning extra important uptake from manufacturers. The variety of advertisers utilizing at the very least considered one of Meta’s video-generation instruments jumped 20% over Q2 2025, although particular figures weren’t damaged out.
Within the Q&A portion of the decision, Zuckerberg reiterated a imaginative and prescient of a world the place AI does a lot of the heavy lifting for manufacturers. Within the government’s considering, entrepreneurs will merely must enter marketing campaign targets and monetary particulars and have Meta’s automation take over from there, dealing with all the things from asset creation to personalization and concentrating on. Different main digital platforms, together with Amazon, are working to construct out comparable AI-supported promoting infrastructure.
By the numbers
$60B+
Annual income run price for Meta’s end-to-end AI-powered promoting choices, together with Benefit+
20%
Quarter-over-quarter improve in variety of advertisers utilizing at the very least considered one of Meta’s video mills inside Benefit+
$70B – $72B
Meta’s revised capital expenditure outlook for the total yr
Elsewhere, the typical price-per-ad throughout Meta’s portfolio grew 10% YoY in Q3, reflecting elevated demand. These good points had been barely offset by impression progress stemming from advert codecs and areas which are much less well-monetized. CFO Susan Li referred to as out significantly excessive engagement for Meta’s video options over the interval. Instagram Reels, a TikTok competitor, has turn into extra centralized on the app, with an annual income run price of over $50 billion, based on Zuckerberg.
A give attention to Reels responds to altering consumer tastes, with folks extra often tuning into creator content material really useful from outdoors of their direct community of family and friends, and in addition as TikTok has confronted repeated possession challenges within the U.S. Federal officers have signaled {that a} deal for a U.S. purchaser to accumulate TikTok might be finalized Thursday.
The prices to remain aggressive within the AI arms race, which requires excessive ranges of specialization and power intensive knowledge facilities, stay steep. Meta raised its anticipated capital expenditures for the total yr to between $70 billion and $72 billion (its decrease vary beforehand was $66 billion). Executives boasted of a deep expertise bench in AI, but it surely’s an space the place the corporate has wanted to make some painful changes of late. Meta laid off about 600 workers from its AI division earlier this month.
Meta’s shares tumbled on the anticipated hike in spending on AI. Meta’s Actuality Labs unit answerable for improvement of digital actuality merchandise and the metaverse additionally continues to be a sore spot, recording a lack of $4.4 billion in Q3. Nonetheless, these headwinds could also be hitches within the street if AI is ready to additional improve promoting efficiency.
“In 2025, Meta’s largest flex is execution. It’s managed to outgrow rivals not by chasing hype, however by industrializing what others are nonetheless experimenting with — AI-powered relevance at scale,” mentioned eMarketer’s Goldman. “The irony? For all of the speak of the metaverse, Meta’s true transformation has been into probably the most environment friendly advert firm on Earth.”
