Sales rose 24% for Meta in Q4 amid increasing AI spending

Meta’s shares were up 8% after it reported a stellar fourth quarter, with earnings from ads and other units up 24% year-over-year to $59.9 billion.

The Instagram owner also projected capital expenditure of up to $135 billion for 2026, holding steadfast on massive AI spending.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the company built its AI foundation in 2025 and is now moving to shipping its next-generation models and scaling its data centers globally.

The company reported a 30% increase in engineer productivity through AI coding tools. It plans to release new models codenamed Avocado and Mango later this year.

However, the latest earnings report reveals a $19.1 billion loss for Meta’s Reality Labs division in 2025. Despite generating $2.2 billion in annual sales, the virtual reality unit continues to struggle financially.

Meta is shifting its primary investment toward AI-powered glasses and wearables rather than traditional VR headsets. It is also moving resources away from the metaverse and reportedly cutting 1,000 jobs.