Meta Sees 33% Revenue Growth to $56.3 Billion, 20 Million User Drop, and Higher 2026 Spending Plans

Meta reported a decline of 20 million in its Family daily active people figures this quarter compared to the previous three months, marking a notable drop in collective users of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger. The company attributed the fall to internet disruptions in Iran and a restriction on access to WhatsApp in Russia, as stated during its earnings call on Wednesday.

At the same time, Meta increased its projected capital expenditures for 2026 to a range of $125-145 billion, which is $10 billion more than previous estimates.

This heightened spending stems from expectations for higher component pricing and additional costs for future data center capacity, according to the company's announcements. Meta's chief financial officer, Susan Li, said during the investor call that the company had underestimated its compute demand in the past.

“Meta had underestimated our compute demand in the past." — Susan Li, Meta CFO Revenue for the quarter rose 33 percent to $56.3 billion from $42.3 billion in the same period last year, representing Meta's fastest growth since 2021. Reality Labs, which builds wearables and virtual reality devices, reported an operating loss of $4.03 billion over the three-month quarter. Employees in the Reality Labs unit faced two waves of layoffs since January. Meta's stock price has fallen by more than 7 percent compared to before the earnings release. The Verge reported these details from the earnings call, which occurred on Wednesday, with the article published on April 30, 2026, at 11:38 AM UTC. Family daily active people encompasses all users across Meta's key platforms, providing a bundled metric for engagement.”