Meta user growth weaker than market expectations, stock slightly down

Meta reported lower-than-expected user numbers and a warning about a steep rise in its infrastructure expenditures in 2025 in its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday.

The stock price experienced a minor drop during after-hours trading. Sales rose 19% YoY, but net income rose 35% to $15.7 billion from $11.6 billion in the third quarter. Since the second quarter of 2023, Meta’s net income growth has been slow at an annual spectrum

According to the company’s third-quarter report, there were 3.29 billion daily active users. That was less than the 3.31 billion economists had projected, despite a 5% growth from the previous year.

Meta increased its projection for capital expenditures for the fiscal year 2024 from $37 billion to $40 billion to between $38 billion and $40 billion. The company also stated that it anticipates a big increase in capital expenditures in 2025 because of a surge in infrastructure costs.

During a call with analysts on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated, “Our AI investments continue to require serious infrastructure, and I expect to continue investing significantly there, too.”

Zuckerberg has been using the company’s massive investments in artificial intelligence, including billions of dollars in Nvidia’s renowned graphics processing units, to support its primary online ad business in the aftermath of Apple’s 2021 iOS privacy update. The company has been growing and modernizing its data centers to provide the technology foundation for its AI strategy.

Meta expects to make between $45 billion and $48 billion in the fourth quarter. The $46.3 billion expert estimate is less than the guidance’s midpoint.

The company’s Reality Labs hardware division posted an operational loss of $4.4 billion in the third quarter, less than the $4.68 billion analysts had projected. Sales in that category surged 29% year over year to $270 million in the third quarter, exceeding analysts’ forecasts of $310.4 million.