Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered a keynote speech at the Meta Connect annual event, announcing a 9% drop in Meta shares after the company’s third-quarter earnings report exceeded analyst estimates. The company reported earnings per share of $7.25 adj. and revenue of $51.24 billion, citing a one-time tax charge of $15.93 billion due to President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Meta anticipates a significant reduction in U.S. federal cash tax payments for the rest of 2025 and beyond. Additionally, Meta’s third-quarter sales surged by 26% year-over-year, projecting fourth-quarter revenue between $56 billion to $59 billion, raising total expenses and capital expenditures for the year, while its Reality Labs hardware unit reported a $4.4 billion loss on $470 million in sales. Meta saw 3.54 billion daily active users across its apps, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations, with advertising sales hitting $50.08 billion in Q3. The company is investing heavily in AI, reorganizing after the launch of its Llama 4 software in April, and recently announced layoffs of 600 workers in Superintelligence Labs AI unit. Meta’s employee headcount reached 78,450 as of Sept. 30, up by 8% year-over-year, and the launch of Vibes AI-powered short-video tool and social feed for Meta AI app led to a 56% increase in downloads on iOS and Android platforms. CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the potential for AI-enabled novel content types during an earnings call.

Read more at CNBC: Meta shares drop 9% despite earnings beat as company takes one-time tax charge