The key facts
- Q3 revenue — $64.6 billion (+26% year over year), EPS — $3.83; Q4 guidance — $73–76 billion
- Headcount fell 12% to ~66,000 after summer layoffs (~8,000 jobs, about 10%)
- Full-year capex guidance adjusted to $135–145 billion; shares rose about 2.5% in after-hours trading
Workforce reduction and strong earnings
Meta's headcount fell 12% from the previous quarter — to approximately 66,000 people, the company's CFO Susan Li said on Wednesday during the third-quarter earnings call. The reduction followed summer layoffs that affected about 10% of staff, corresponding to roughly 8,000 jobs. At the same time, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion — 26% higher than a year earlier and above analysts' expectations. Earnings per share came in at $3.83. In after-hours trading, Meta shares rose about 2.5%.
Forecasts and AI investments
Meta forecasts fourth-quarter revenue in the range of $73–76 billion, the midpoint of which exceeds analysts' estimates. The company narrowed its full-year capital expenditure guidance to $135–145 billion, raising the lower bound from $130 billion. The spending is directed at computing infrastructure for AI agents and foundation models. CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the launch of the personal AI assistant Muse and the Muse Wonder model the key milestones of the quarter.
Muse assistant metrics and other figures
According to Zuckerberg, over the past month and a half, more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have set up personal agents through the Muse assistant, with about 25% of users visiting the service daily. The largest use case turned out to be shopping: more than a quarter of users performed shopping-related actions, and the average purchase value exceeded $200. The daily audience of Meta's family of apps reached 3.64 billion people — slightly below analysts' expectations. The Reality Labs division, which handles virtual reality devices and AI, posted revenue of $443 million with an operating loss of $4.13 billion.
New class of shares
Meta also announced plans to introduce non-voting Class C common shares starting January 2027, which will be distributed to existing shareholders as a dividend. According to the company, the new class of shares is intended to support growth financing while preserving the founder-led management structure.
