Meta’s price per ad up 10% in strong quarter marred by big tax bill
Meta's Ray Ban augmented reality glasses are receiving a lot of attention from the company
Meta has posted strong quarterly financials that show its ad engine running hot globally, with impressions and price per ad up and ad revenue growing 26% year on year.
Despite the robust numbers, Meta stock fell sharply in after-hours trading, a reaction to news that earnings had been hit by a one-time tax bill of US$15.93 billion.
That bill was triggered by changes under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. Meta said the non-cash charge would reduce its future federal cash tax bills.
The Q3 results show total ad revenue of just over $50 billion (total revenue $51.24 billion with Reality Labs and other minor revenue lines thrown in), with an expectation that Q4 will see “continued strong ad revenue growth”.
