Meta Earnings More Than Doubled Despite $10 Billion in Legal Fees

Skip to content Available to WrapPRO members The company reported revenue and earnings excluding those fees that beat Wall Street expectations October 21, 2026 @ 1:15 PM Illustration courtesy of Chris Smith/TheWrap Meta reported $64.6 billion in third quarter revenue, up 26% annually, outpacing the $63.3 billion analysts projected. The company reported $7.40 earnings per share excluding one-time legal charges to beat Wall Street’s forecast of $5.46 a share Third quarter 2026 costs and expenses includes a $9.89 billion charge related to payouts from teen mental health and social media trials Meta beat Wall Street expectations in its third quarter earnings despite high legal fee payouts for various social media addiction trials this year. The tech giant reported $64.6 billion in third quarter revenue, up 26% annually, outpacing the $63.3 billion analysts projected. The company also reported $7.40 earnings per share excluding one-time legal charges to beat Wall Street $5.46 expectations “In August 2026, we announced an agreement with 52 attorneys general to resolve litigation related to teen mental health and social media, which provides for payments of up to approximately $18.59 billion,” the report read. “Third quarter 2026 costs and expenses includes a $9.89 billion charge related to this agreement. Excluding this charge, the third quarter 2026.” Meta also narrowed its capital expenditure range from $130-140 billion to $135-140 billion with more spending poured into AI. The company said that their AI investments are already delivering “substantial incremental advertising revenue” with stronger engagements and more targeted recommendations. Meta was hit with another large fine Wednesday. The tech company will have to pay a $25 billion fee for misleading Facebook users about its data privacy practices. New Mexico Judge Francis J. Mathew imposed one of the largest penalties against a tech company to date with the ruling, which found that that Meta committed nearly 44 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws. More to come…