Meta Q3 revenue tops estimates and Zuckerberg says Muse accounts have topped 10 million

Meta Platforms said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit jumped more than threefold, as revenue climbed sharply.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported net income of $9.86 billion, or $3.83 per share, for the July-September period. That’s up from a profit of $2.71 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue grew 26% to $64.60 billion, up from $51.24 billion in the prior-year quarter and above the $63.34 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.

In August , Meta reached an $18 billion settlement with 48 U.S. states over the effects of social media on teen mental health. The company agreed to take steps to keep children under 13 off Instagram and Facebook and teens ages 14 and 18 in age-appropriate accounts.

Excluding the impact of a $9.89 billion charge related to this agreement, the company's third-quarter earnings would have been $7.40 per share, Meta said. The-year ago quarter included a one-time tax charge of nearly $16 billion.

“We hit major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone — including launching Muse and Muse Wonder, our first frontier model,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement. “Our investments are paying off, the core business is strong, and we’re seeing velocity across the board.”

During a call with analysts, Zuckerberg noted that more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada have set up accounts for Muse, the personal artificial intelligence agent the company launched in August.

Meta said the number of daily active users on its “family of apps” — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp — grew 3% from a year earlier to an average of 3.64 billion.

The Menlo Park, California-based company had 66,775 employees as of Sept. 30, a decrease of 15% year-over-year.

For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue in the range of $73 billion to $76 billion, the midpoint of which is higher than the $73.65 billion analysts are expecting.

Total expenses were $51.61 billion, an increase of 68% year-over-year. This includes the charge stemming from its multistate legal settlement.

Meta’s shares closed up 0.5% in regular trading Wednesday. The shares rose 2.9% in after-hours trading after the results were released. The stock is up 5.7% so far this year.