Meta July-September net profit rises 3.6-fold to $9.86 billion as revenue gains 26%
In short
Meta said on the 21st that its July-September 2026 net profit was about 3.6 times the year-earlier figure, at $9.86 billion per Sankei, with revenue up 26% to about $64.6 billion. The company also booked about $9.9 billion in costs tied to lawsuits with US state authorities over harm to young people, according to Sankei.
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US company Meta, which operates the social network Facebook, announced its July-September 2026 results on the 21st. Net profit was about 3.6 times the figure a year earlier. Sankei Shimbun, in a Kyodo report, gave it as $9.86 billion (about 1.6 trillion yen); Yahoo! News Japan gave $9.8 billion. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Revenue rose 26% year on year. Sankei put it at $64.601 billion, and Yahoo! News Japan at $64.6 billion (about 10.2 trillion yen). Sankei said higher ad prices and more ad impressions contributed. It also reported that daily users of Meta's social networks rose 3% to 3.64 billion. [ 2 , 3 ]
Sankei attributed the profit increase to a rebound from a large tax charge booked a year earlier, together with a strong internet advertising business. Yahoo! News Japan likewise said the year-earlier period had included temporary costs. [ 2 , 3 ]
Meta booked litigation-related costs of about $9.9 billion, per Sankei, linked to lawsuits with US state authorities over the harmful effects of social networks on young people. Yahoo! News Japan put the figure at $9.8 billion and described it as related to settlements in suits brought by states over a failure to protect children's safety. It said profit would have been higher without that cost. Sankei reported that Meta raised its 2026 full-year total expense outlook to $175-179 billion, and expects 2026 operating profit excluding litigation costs to exceed the 2025 result. [ 2 , 3 ]
Yahoo! News Japan, in a report with a New York dateline, said usage of Muse, a personal AI agent that acts autonomously on a person's behalf, was a quarterly record. In a statement, CEO Zuckerberg said the launch of Muse marked an important milestone toward the goal of providing superintelligence to everyone. He also said capital spending on AI development and other areas was producing results. [ 3 ]
Sankei said Meta named legal proceedings and regulatory trends as future risk factors, citing continuing US lawsuits over young people and scrutiny by authorities abroad. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The reports tie the profit gain partly to a weak year-earlier base and partly to stronger advertising. Meta itself pointed to legal proceedings and regulatory trends as risks, and it raised its 2026 total expense outlook.
Key facts
- Net profit for July-September 2026 was about 3.6 times the year-earlier level, at $9.86 billion (about 1.6 trillion yen) per Sankei; Yahoo! News Japan gave $9.8 billion. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Revenue rose 26% year on year to about $64.6 billion. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Sankei said higher ad prices and more ad impressions contributed to the revenue gain. [ 2 ]
- Daily users of Meta's social networks rose 3% to 3.64 billion, per Sankei. [ 2 ]
- Meta booked about $9.9 billion (Sankei) or $9.8 billion (Yahoo! News Japan) in costs linked to lawsuits by US states over young people's safety. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Meta raised its 2026 full-year total expense outlook to $175-179 billion, per Sankei. [ 2 ]
- Usage of its AI agent Muse was a quarterly record, per Yahoo! News Japan. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The exact size of the litigation-related cost. Sankei gives about $9.9 billion; Yahoo! News Japan gives $9.8 billion.
- What drove the year-earlier base. Sankei cites a large tax charge a year earlier; Yahoo! News Japan refers to temporary costs recorded in the year-earlier period.
- The 2026 expense outlook and the 3.64 billion daily user figure. Only one outlet (Sankei) reports them.
- How much Muse usage grew. Yahoo! News Japan calls it a quarterly record but gives no figures.
- Revenue rose 26% year on year to about $64.6 billion. Reported by a single source so far
- The quarter included costs of nearly $10 billion linked to lawsuits brought by US states over harm to young people or child safety. Reported by a single source so far