Meta’s Q2 revenue rose 28% to $60.8 billion but earnings missed estimates due to higher capex and legal charges.
Meta Platforms reported Q2 revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and above the $60.3 billion estimate, driven by a 14% increase in ad impressions. However, earnings per share fell to $6.18, missing the $7.22 consensus, due to legal and severance costs and rising capital expenditures.
The company’s annual capex guidance was revised to a range of $130 billion to $145 billion, up from prior estimates, while free cash flow for the quarter dipped below $1 billion after accounting for lease payments. Investors reacted negatively to the lack of progress in monetizing AI infrastructure, despite reports of early talks to lease up to $10 billion in compute capacity to Anthropic.
Management downplayed plans to expand into cloud services, emphasizing internal returns over external leasing opportunities. Shares fell 20% since mid-July as concerns over spending overshadowed revenue growth.