Meta Platforms
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Meta Platforms, Inc. (doing business as Meta), headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is an American multinational technology company and is one of the Big Tech companies.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, revision of 30 Oct 2026.
What stands out
- Sales have grown about 18.5% a year for five years, so each $1 of sales in FY2020 is about $2.34 now.Revenue growth over 5–10 years: +18.5% a year
- Meta kept about 41 cents of operating profit from each $1 of sales in FY2025.Operating margin (operating income ÷ revenue): 41.4%
- For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $0.90 turned up as spare cash.Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income: $46.1B
From filed figures and the weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Observations to check in the tabs below, not advice.
What has the price done?
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Press and drag across the chart to see the change between two points. Source: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Bars are daily and prices are adjusted for splits, not dividends. Past returns don't predict future returns.
Dividends
Full chart
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How does it make money?
What it does
Meta reports 2 businesses. In FY2025, Family of apps brought in 99% and Reality Labs brought in 1% of revenue.
By region, US and Canada made up 39%, then Asia Pacific at 27%.
From Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2025.
Where the revenue comes from
- Family of apps99%
- Reality Labs1%
Shares of revenue, FY2025. Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2025.
How it makes money
Where Meta's FY2025 revenue came from, what it cost to earn, and what was left for shareholders.
- Income
- Costs and tax
- Profit
- % = share of revenue
Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2025 (29 Jan 2026), statement of income, Notes 2 and 15. FY2025 is the year to 31 Dec 2025. Figures as reported, in US$ millions in the tooltips and table.
Technical: gross margin was 82.0%, operating margin 41.4% and net margin 30.1%. Operating costs and cost of revenue together took 58.6% of revenue.
Plain: of every dollar of sales, about 18 cents paid for making or delivering what was sold, about 41 cents went on running and growing the business, and about 30 cents ended up as profit for shareholders.
Revenue by business
Revenue by region
See the numbers
| FY2025 | US$M | % of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 200,966 | 100.0% |
| Cost of revenue | −36,175 | 18.0% |
| Gross profit | 164,791 | 82.0% |
| Research and development | −57,372 | 28.5% |
| Marketing and sales | −11,991 | 6.0% |
| General and administrative | −12,152 | 6.0% |
| Operating income | 83,276 | 41.4% |
| Other income (expense), net | 2,656 | 1.3% |
| Profit before tax | 85,932 | 42.8% |
| Income tax | −25,474 | 12.7% |
| Net profit to shareholders | 60,458 | 30.1% |
- Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue. Meta doesn't report the subtotal itself.
- Tax rose US$17.17B on FY2024, mostly because of a 2025 US tax law (OBBBA), Meta says. The effective tax rate was 29.6%.
- Family of Apps revenue is US$196,175M of advertising and US$2,584M of other revenue.
- Meta assigns revenue by the customer's address. United States revenue alone was US$74.78B.
History and context
Meta Platforms, Inc. (doing business as Meta), headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is an American multinational technology company and is one of the Big Tech companies. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads. The company also operates an advertising network for its own sites and third parties; as of 2023, advertising accounted for 97.8% of its total revenue.
The company was established in 2004 as TheFacebook, Inc., and was renamed Facebook, Inc. in 2005. In 2021, it rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc. to reflect a strategic shift toward developing the metaverse—an interconnected digital ecosystem spanning virtual and augmented reality technologies.
Meta is ranked 17th on the Fortune 500 and 16th on the Forbes Global 2000. As of 2022, it was the world's third-largest spender on research and development, with R&D expenses totaling US$35.3 billion.
From Wikipedia's article Meta Platforms, the lead section as of the revision of 30 Oct 2026, retrieved 1 Nov 2026. Text under CC BY-SA 4.0, pronunciation guides removed. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone; the company's own filings are the primary source.
What it actually sells Soon
A product-by-product guide to Meta: what each one is, who buys it, and how much it brings in, in plain English and in the company's own terms. We're starting with the companies that are hardest to picture, like Broadcom.
Moat rating
Wide moat
8.9 / 10
ROIC averaged 46.2% over FY2021 to FY2025, 35.6 percentage points above a 10.66% cost of capital, and beat it every year, including FY2022's 30.3%.
Meta earns several times what its capital costs, even while spending heavily on the metaverse and AI.
The numbers
10.0 / 10Return on invested capital against cost of capital, internet software
- Average ROIC
- 46.2%
- Average excess return
- +35.6 pp
- Years above the hurdle
- 5 of 5
Spread 10 × 60% + durability 10 × 40% = 10.0
The sources
7.8 / 10Where Meta's advantage comes from
- 1. Brand and pricing power7 / 10
In 2025 the average price per ad rose 9% while ad impressions grew 12%.
Meta showed more ads and charged more for each one at the same time.
- 2. Barriers to entry7 / 10
Family of Apps made US$102.5B of operating income in 2025, which funds US$57.4B of research and development a year.
A newcomer would need to match tens of billions a year in spending just to keep up.
- 3. Switching costs6 / 10
Friends, photos, groups and business pages live on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. People can and do spend time on other apps as well.
Leaving means leaving your friends and memories behind, though nothing stops you using TikTok too.
- 4. Network effects10 / 10
Family daily active people averaged 3.58 billion in December 2025, up 7%.
You're on WhatsApp because your family is. Each new user makes the apps more useful to everyone else.
- 5. Economies of scale9 / 10
Operating margin of 41.4% in 2025, and 51.6% for Family of Apps, even after Reality Labs lost US$19.2B.
Serving one more user costs Meta very little, so most new ad money turns into profit.
Return on invested capital: Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2021; Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2022; Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2023; Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2024; Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR), Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec 2025. Hurdle: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, Cost of capital by sector (US), data as of January 2026. Our choice of industry. Damodaran's advertising group has a lower 7.81%, so this is the tougher test.
How we worked out ROIC: operating income after tax, divided by the capital invested at the start of the year. Tax is at the year's effective rate, or the 21% US federal rate where a pre-tax loss or a tax credit makes the effective rate meaningless. Invested capital is shareholders' equity plus borrowings, less cash and short-term investments, from the opening balance sheet in the same 10-K; lease liabilities are left out. This follows Damodaran's definition. The ratios are our calculation from the filed figures, not numbers the company reports.
Lens scores are rasinbun's judgment, reviewed 19 Oct 2026. A wide moat is a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict on the price. For education only. Not financial advice.
How we rate moats ›Is it a good business at a fair price?
What each method implies
Ranges, not targetsThe five questions, and the price
Six checks from the annual reports. A flag marks a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict.
- 1. Is it growing?Within the guide
+18.5% a year
Revenue growth over 5–10 years
Revenue $86.0B in FY2020 to $201.0B in FY2025; +27.3% a year over 10 years. It fell in 1 of the last 5 years.
Sales have grown about 18.5% a year for five years, so each $1 of sales in FY2020 is about $2.34 now.
What to look for Steady growth, not one lucky year.
Source: FY2020 10-K, filed 28 Jan 2021; FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026.
- 2. Is it profitable?Within the guide
41.4%
Operating margin (operating income ÷ revenue)
FY2025 operating margin. 5-year average 36.5%, range 24.8% to 42.2%.
Meta kept about 41 cents of operating profit from each $1 of sales in FY2025.
What to look for Stable or rising. It's cleaner than net income, which one-off items and tax can distort.
Source: FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026.
- 3. Is the profit real cash?Within the guide
$46.1B
Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income
FY2025 free cash flow: operating cash flow $115.8B less capex $69.7B. Over 5 years FCF was 90% of net income.
For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $0.90 turned up as spare cash.
What to look for FCF positive and growing, and close to net income over time.
Source: FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026.
- 4. Is it a good business?Within the guide
43.8% ROIC
Return on invested capital (ROIC); ROE for banks
FY2025 ROIC. 5-year average 46.2% against a 10.66% cost of capital, internet software; above it in 5 of 5 years.
Meta has earned more on its money than that money costs, in 5 of the last 5 years.
What to look for Clearly above the cost of capital (roughly 8–10%). Sustained 15%+ usually means a moat.
Source: Our moat rating, Moat tab; Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, January 2026.
- 5. Can it survive a bad year?Within the guide
Net cash $22.8B
Net debt ÷ EBITDA or ÷ FCF, plus interest cover
FY2025 year end: borrowings $58.7B, cash and short-term investments $81.6B. Operating income covers interest 71.5x.
Meta holds more cash than it owes, so it could pay off its borrowings today.
What to look for Debt payable from about 3 years of FCF or less, interest covered many times.
Source: FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026.
- 6. Is the price right?
2.9% FCF yield
FCF yield or EV/EBIT, and price against a cash-flow value
Market cap $1.6T. FCF yield 2.9% on FY2025 free cash flow. EV/EBIT 18.7x on FY2025 operating income. The valuation sheet's default story values it at US$390.50–US$653.65 a share (middle US$508.11); at US$709.33, its 16 Oct 2026 price, the price is +39.6% against the middle.
At this price, each $100 of shares comes with about $2.92 of last year's spare cash. On the sheet's default story the price sits above the middle of its value range, by 40%. Change the story and that moves.
What to look for Pay less than a cash-flow value estimate, with a margin of safety.
Source: Price $614.99, Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026; 2,565M shares, 10-Q 30 Jun 2026; FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026; Stock valuation, 16 Oct 2026.
US figures: each company's Form 10-K as tagged on SEC EDGAR, collected 19 Oct 2026. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment. Borrowings exclude leases. For education only. Not financial advice.
Ten years of financials
FY2016 to FY2025, in US dollars.
Source: Meta Platforms, Form 10-K for each year as first filed, via SEC EDGAR XBRL. Latest: FY2025 10-K, filed 29 Jan 2026. Later restatements aren't applied.
How peers compare
Big tech platformsThe platforms are compared on growth, margins and how much of revenue turns into free cash once the capex bill is paid.
| Company | Revenue growth, 5y | Operating margin | FCF margin | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| META | +18.5% a year | 41.4% | 22.9% | 26.2x |
| AAPL | +8.7% a year | 32.0% | 23.7% | 46.2x |
| MSFT | +14.6% a year | 46.8% | 20.2% | 29.1x |
| GOOGL | +17.2% a year | 32.0% | 18.2% | 25.9x |
| AMZN | +13.2% a year | 11.2% | 1.1% | 33.5x |
- Peers' middle-half P/E
- 28.3x–36.7x (median 31.3x, 4 peers)
At the peers' middle-half P/E, Meta's earnings per share from the FY2025 10-K would put the share between $664 and $862. Those are the peer bars in the valuation chart above — one way to read the price, not a target.
Prices: weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Profits: each company's latest annual filing via SEC EDGAR, as filed. Peers are hand-picked for this industry. A multiple compares one year's profit with today's price; it says nothing about what either does next.
Discounted cash flow, from Stock valuation
Ten years of free cash flow to the firm, from Meta's latest figures and Damodaran's industry averages (Software (Internet)). It's one story told with numbers, so it comes as a range.
- Value range, the default story$390.50–$653.65Middle $508.11 a share
- Price, 16 Oct 2026 close$709.33+39.60% ▲ against the middle
- What the price implies18.3% a yearGrowth in years 2–5 that makes value equal the price; the story uses 12.0%
To be worth today's price, Meta would need to grow sales about 18.3% a year in years 2–5. One way to read this is to ask whether that sounds believable.
The story's assumptions
- Revenue, last 12 months
- $228,247M
- Operating margin now
- 38.1%
- Revenue growth, year 1
- 20.7%
- Revenue growth, years 2–5
- 12.0%
- Growth after year 10
- 5.1%
- Target operating margin, by year 5
- 38.1%
- Sales to capital, years 1–5 / 6–10
- 1.35 / 1.35
- Tax rate now / after year 10
- 22.2% / 25.0%
- Cost of capital, years 1–5
- 11.7%
- Cost of capital after year 10
- 8.7%
- Return on capital after year 10
- 8.7%
- Chance of failure
- 0.0%
Value per share as two inputs change (revenue growth, years 2–5 down, target operating margin across)
| Revenue growth, years 2–5 | 33.1% | 38.1% | 43.1% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.0% | $390.50 | $450.42 | $510.34 |
| 12.0% | $438.82 | $508.11 | $577.41 |
| 15.0% | $493.71 | $573.68 | $653.65 |
Middle cell: the default story. Each step is 3 points of growth or 5 points of margin.
| Year | Growth | Revenue | Margin | Operating income | Tax rate | After-tax income | Reinvestment | Free cash flow | Cost of capital | Present value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20.7% | $275,585M | 38.1% | $104,954M | 22.2% | $81,655M | $35,063M | $46,592M | 11.7% | $41,725M |
| 2 | 12.0% | $308,656M | 38.1% | $117,549M | 22.2% | $91,453M | $24,495M | $66,958M | 11.7% | $53,700M |
| 3 | 12.0% | $345,694M | 38.1% | $131,655M | 22.2% | $102,427M | $27,434M | $74,993M | 11.7% | $53,862M |
| 4 | 12.0% | $387,178M | 38.1% | $147,453M | 22.2% | $114,719M | $30,726M | $83,993M | 11.7% | $54,023M |
| 5 | 12.0% | $433,639M | 38.1% | $165,148M | 22.2% | $128,485M | $34,413M | $94,072M | 11.7% | $54,186M |
| 6 | 10.6% | $479,683M | 38.1% | $182,683M | 22.8% | $141,105M | $34,104M | $107,001M | 11.1% | $55,490M |
| 7 | 9.2% | $523,986M | 38.1% | $199,556M | 23.3% | $153,019M | $32,815M | $120,204M | 10.5% | $56,427M |
| 8 | 7.9% | $565,140M | 38.1% | $215,229M | 23.9% | $163,832M | $30,482M | $133,350M | 9.9% | $56,970M |
| 9 | 6.5% | $601,716M | 38.1% | $229,159M | 24.4% | $173,152M | $27,091M | $146,061M | 9.3% | $57,098M |
| 10 | 5.1% | $632,343M | 38.1% | $240,823M | 25.0% | $180,617M | $22,685M | $157,932M | 8.7% | $56,803M |
| After 10 | 5.1% | $664,530M | 38.1% | $253,081M | 25.0% | $189,811M | $111,178M | $78,633M | 8.7% | $785,598M |
- Present value of years 1–10
- $540,283M
- Present value after year 10
- $785,598M
- Less debt, plus cash
- −$22,060M
- Value of equity
- $1,303,821M
- Shares
- 2,566M
- Value per share, default story
- $508.11
Company figures: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/meta/statistics/, TTM to Jun 2026. Industry averages: Aswath Damodaran, January 2026 US data. Risk-free rates: US 10-year Treasury 5.09% and Singapore 10-year 2.34%, 16 Oct 2026. Equity risk premium: Damodaran's implied premium of 4.20%, 1 Oct 2026. Company figures are the latest reported before 19 Oct 2026. Data as of 16 Oct 2026. The sheet follows the spreadsheets Aswath Damodaran publishes; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by him. A model's value is not a price target. For education only. Not financial advice.
Who owns it, and what's the mood?
Tracked investors and insiders
Trades in Meta Platforms by the people we follow: Warren Buffett and Michael Burry (13F), Grab's officers (Form 4) and Nancy Pelosi (House reports). They show what happened, often weeks later, not what to copy.
| Who | Did | Size | When | Disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark ZuckerbergCOB and CEO, Meta Platforms | Converted share classClass A shares | +17,140 shares | 24 Sep 2026 | 28 Sep 20264 days after the trade |
| Mark ZuckerbergCOB and CEO, Meta Platforms | SoldClass A shares | −27,474 shares | 24 Sep 2026 | 28 Sep 20264 days after the trade |
| Bill AckmanPershing Square | AddedShares (Class A) | +535,201 sharesabout $301,473,371 at quarter-end value | Q2 2026 | 14 Aug 202645 days after Q2 2026 ended |
| Terry SmithFundsmith | TrimmedShares (Class A) | −269,499 sharesabout $151,806,092 at quarter-end value | Q2 2026 | 14 Aug 202645 days after Q2 2026 ended |
| David TepperAppaloosa | AddedShares (Class A) | +238,500 sharesabout $134,344,665 at quarter-end value | Q2 2026 | 14 Aug 202645 days after Q2 2026 ended |
| Dan LoebThird Point | Sold outShares (Class A) | −90,000 shares | Q2 2026 | 14 Aug 202645 days after Q2 2026 ended |
| Chase ColemanTiger Global Management | TrimmedShares (Class A) | −263,684 sharesabout $148,530,560 at quarter-end value | Q2 2026 | 14 Aug 202645 days after Q2 2026 ended |
| Mark ZuckerbergCOB and CEO, Meta Platforms | Converted share classClass A shares | +591,690 shares | 31 Jul 2026 | 4 Aug 20264 days after the trade |
| Mark ZuckerbergCOB and CEO, Meta Platforms | Gave awayClass A shares | −591,690 shares | 31 Jul 2026 | 4 Aug 20264 days after the trade |
| Mark ZuckerbergCOB and CEO, Meta Platforms | Gave awayClass A shares | +591,690 shares | 31 Jul 2026 | 4 Aug 20264 days after the trade |
Sources: SEC EDGAR 13F-HR and Form 4 filings, and the US House Clerk's Periodic Transaction Reports, checked 30 Oct 2026. 13F values are the quarter-end value, not the price paid. Showing the 10 latest of 175. All tracked trades ›
- Largest shareholdersSoonThe biggest holders from 13F filings and the annual proxy statement.—
- Chief executive and board holdingsSoonShares held by the CEO and directors, from the proxy statement and Form 4s.—
- Short interestSoonHow many shares are sold short, from exchange short-interest reports.—
Crowd favourite or value trap?
Neither is a label we can put on a stock. These are signs worth looking into, each from a figure on this page.
Signs of a crowd-driven price
Meme stocks move on attention more than on results: big swings, a price far from cash-flow value, thin profits.
0 of 4 signs
- NoSwings at least twice as much as the marketBeta 1.27, 5 years of monthly returns
- NoUp more than 100%, or down more than 50%, in a year1-year price change −4.82%
- NoPrice more than 50% above the valuation sheet's middle valuePrice +40% against the sheet's default story, 16 Oct 2026
- NoThin profits: operating margin under 5%, or a lossFY2025 operating margin 41.4%
Signs of a value trap
A value trap looks cheap because the business is shrinking or earning less than its capital costs.
0 of 4 signs
- NoLooks cheap: P/E under 12 or FCF yield over 8%P/E 26.2x, FCF yield 2.9%
- NoRevenue lower than five years agoRevenue +18.5% a year over 5 years
- NoReturns below the cost of capital5-year average ROIC 46.2% against 10.7%
- NoMore than 30% below its 52-week high−21.1% from the 52-week high
Prices, beta and 1-year change: Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Business figures: the five questions under Valuation and financials. A sign is a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict. For education only. Not financial advice.
Read it through a lens
Price data: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Company figures: each company's own filings, dated where they appear. A ticker on this site is not a recommendation. For education only. Not financial advice.