Meta has spent billions on artificial intelligence data centers, and the company is making handsome profits as its CEO prepares to testify in a landmark social media trial.
Meta reported strong financial results on Wednesday, with fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $59.89 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $58.59 billion. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88, which also beat Wall Street’s expectations of $8.23 EPS. Following the announcement, Meta’s stock price rose nearly 10% in after-hours trading.
“We had a strong year in 2025,” founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “We look forward to evolving personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026.”
The earnings report comes as Meta significantly ramps up its multibillion-dollar investment in AI infrastructure in 2025. On Tuesday, Meta announced a deal worth up to $6 billion with Corning, a maker of composite materials for communications and electronics, to supply fiber optic cables to the tech giant’s data centers.
At the financial results conference, Zuckerberg talked about the “significant acceleration of AI” that will continue to grow into 2026. “We’re starting to see agents in action.” “This unlocks the ability to build entirely new products and transform the way we work.”
The company is particularly focused on building superintelligence and AI that is more tailored to an individual’s situation. Zuckerberg discussed broader efforts to integrate LLM with recommendation systems that already power advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Meta.
“Currently, our apps feel like algorithms that recommend content,” he said. “Soon, when you open our app, our AI will understand you, show you great content, and even generate great content specifically for you.”
Meta expects to spend $162 billion to $169 billion in 2026. Most of that money will go toward infrastructure costs, followed by employee compensation, particularly new hires to support AI expansion.
Investors had previously raised concerns about the high cost of investing in Meta’s AI, amid widespread concerns on Wall Street about a volatile AI financial bubble. Zuckerberg argued that such investments should pay off in the long run. Zuckerberg struck a similar tone during a conference call Wednesday when asked about how investments in AI will pay off in the coming years.
As it focuses all its efforts on AI, Meta’s focus is shifting away from virtual reality and the Metaverse, which previously focused Zuckerberg’s $10 billion effort. The tech giant this week began laying off more than 1,000 employees (10% of its Reality Labs division) focused on VR, according to multiple reports. Zuckerberg said he expects Reality Labs’ losses to be similar to last year’s losses. The division reported a loss of $6.02 billion on revenue of $955 million. He said Wednesday that Reality Lab’s continued investment will primarily focus on glasses and wearables, noting that Meta’s glasses sales more than tripled last year.
As tech giants invest heavily in physical infrastructure for AI, data centers increasingly face political scrutiny over their energy bills and environmental costs. Georgia is leading a legislative effort to ban new data center construction until March, in hopes of giving government officials time to better regulate data centers. Maryland and Oklahoma are considering similar bills. Congressional Democrats are investigating reports that big tech companies are passing on rising data center utility costs to ordinary Americans. Even Donald Trump is concerned about the impact data centers will have on an already expensive power market.
Meta is focused on PR efforts to convince Americans that data centers aren’t that bad. The company spent $6.4 million advertising in state capitals and Washington in November and December, claiming its data centers would help bring jobs to local communities, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Meta said in a press release that its data centers support 30,000 skilled trade jobs and 5,000 operational jobs already under construction, but it’s unclear whether that number is just in the U.S. or globally. However, according to news reports, these facilities typically create few permanent jobs beyond the construction phase.
Mr. Zuckerberg was also ordered to testify in a landmark trial that began this week. Meta and other tech companies are facing allegations that social media companies intentionally made their products addictive and harmful to young people. This is the first time he has had to answer in open court, and although Mr. Zuckerberg has testified before Congress before, questions from experienced prosecutors may involve more intense questioning. Zuckerberg did not discuss the lawsuit during the company’s financial results conference.
