Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Inc.
Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) is the US company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and it earns almost all of its revenue from advertising on those apps.
Company snapshot
- Listing
- Nasdaq: META
- Founded
- 2004
- Headquarters
- Menlo Park, California, US
- Industry
- Social media and online advertising
- Website
- about.meta.com
What the company does
Meta Platforms was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It started as Facebook and now runs Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp as well. Hardware such as virtual and augmented reality headsets and AI glasses comes from its Reality Labs unit. It also develops its own AI models under the Llama name.
How it makes money
Meta reports two segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. In its 10-K for fiscal 2025, advertising made up about 98% of total revenue. Advertisers pay to reach users based on their interests, and Meta earns more as impressions and clicks rise. Reality Labs brings in barely 1% of revenue, yet it cut 2025 operating profit by about $19.2 billion.
Why markets watch it
Advertising budgets move with the economy, so Meta's results are read as a gauge of the online ad market and of marketing spend by smaller businesses. Its capital spending plans for AI data centers feed into demand forecasts for Nvidia and other AI chipmakers. Privacy rules and antitrust cases in several countries are further swing factors for the stock.