Meta Platforms, Inc.

Company overview

Meta Platforms, Inc. is a Delaware corporation focused on building the future of human connection and the technology that enables it. The company emphasizes AI-driven features across its products, immersive experiences, and development of a next computing platform commonly referred to as the metaverse. Meta reports results across two segments: Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL).

Operating segments

Family of Apps (FoA)

• Core revenue driver: advertising across Meta’s apps.
• Primary products: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp.
• Other FoA offerings include Meta AI, an assistant available across apps and devices.

Reality Labs (RL)

• Revenue sources: sales of consumer hardware, software, and content.
• Investments cover longer-term technologies including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), wearables, and related software.
• RL is a long-term initiative that is expected to operate at a loss for the foreseeable future, funded by profits from FoA and other areas.

Key products and platforms

FoA products

• Facebook: Feed, Reels, Stories, Groups, Marketplace.
• Instagram: Feed, Stories, Reels, Live, messaging, shopping.
• Messenger: cross-platform messaging with voice and video.
• Threads: text-based updates and public conversations.
• Meta AI: cross-app assistant, available as a standalone app and on wearables/glasses.
• WhatsApp: messaging with channels for one-to-many broadcast.

RL products

• Meta Quest devices and Horizon Store software/content.
• Wearables and AR/VR hardware, including Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses, the Orion AR prototype, Meta Ray-Ban Display, and the Neural Band wrist device.
• Ongoing investments in wearables, VR, and related software for the next computing platform.

Global scale and reach

• FoA products available in more than 100 languages.
• Offices or data centers in approximately 40 countries.
• Office footprint: about 10 million square feet of headquarters and other buildings, with roughly 2 million square feet unoccupied (available for sublease or termination).
• Land holdings: approximately 62 acres for future development.
• Data centers: 30 locations globally; some are leased.
• Global operations span more than 90 cities with offices; product availability is global, subject to local regulations.

Workforce

• Employees: 78,865 (as of December 31, 2025).

Financial highlights

• 2025 segment spending:
  • FoA costs and expenses: ~82% of total costs and expenses.
  • RL costs and expenses: ~18% of total costs and expenses.
• 2025 investments:
  • FoA investments: $96.29 billion (headcount, data centers, and infrastructure related to FoA).
  • RL investments: $21.40 billion (wearables, VR, AR, software, and related technology).
• 2026 RL allocation:
  • Approximately 70% of RL operating expenses allocated to wearables initiatives.
  • Approximately 30% allocated to VR and Horizon initiatives.
• Revenue model:
  • Substantially all revenue is generated from advertising on FoA.
  • RL generates revenue from consumer hardware, software, and content.
• RL is expected to operate at a loss for the foreseeable future; its path to profitability depends on profits generated from FoA and other parts of the business.

Corporate information

• Principal executive offices: 1 Meta Way, Menlo Park, California 94025.
• Class A common stock listed on Nasdaq under the symbol META.
• The company maintains a dual-class structure that concentrates voting control with the founder/CEO, affecting governance dynamics.
• The company discusses potential financing needs and the effects of acquisitions, equity issuances, and debt on liquidity and dilution.

Core business model

Meta operates primarily as an advertising platform through its Family of Apps, generating the majority of revenue from marketers’ ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp. The company is investing heavily in Reality Labs (VR/AR hardware and software, wearables, and related platforms) as a long-term strategic initiative toward the next computing platform, with RL currently operating at a substantial loss. Ongoing AI initiatives, platform integrity and safety efforts, and an extensive international footprint shape revenue, cost structure, and regulatory considerations.