Meta Platforms beats consensus, stock rises over 4%

Clay Webster FXStreet

Meta Platforms (META) stock gained afterhours on Wednesday after offering a steep outlook on full-year spending. The company helmed by founder Mark Zuckerberg initially dropped 3.7% to $635 after the company guided for between $162 billion and $169 billion in total expenses for 2026. But then the market rallied following upward guidance to Q1 2026 revenue with shares rising 4% to $695.

Meta has been raising its capex budget on AI data centers quarter upon quarter during the present AI rally, and it appears to only be pushing harder on the accelerator.

The results from the fourth quarter of 2025 were impressive though. Meta reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88 on revenue of $59.89 billion. The bottom line beat consensus by $0.66, while the topline came in $1.42 billion above consensus. Sales for Q4 rose 24% from a year earlier.

Ad impressions across Meta's Family of Apps increased by 18% YoY in Q4, and December saw average daily active users rise 7% YoY to 3.58 billion. Average price per ad in Q4 rose 6% YoY.

For the first quarter of 2026, management guided for total revenue in the range of $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion against consensus of $51.41 billion.

META Platforms daily chart — META daily stock chart

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Author

Clay Webster

FXStreet

Clay Webster grew up in the US outside Buffalo, New York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He began investing after college following the 2008 financial crisis.

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