Meta's ad business generated 98% of its total revenue in Q2 2025
With daily users climbing and advertisers paying more, Meta turned attention into profit, posting one of its best quarters yet.
Meta rode a roaring wave of ad dollars into the second quarter, and it rode high. The company’s ad engine delivered a surge in revenue that beat Wall Street expectations and sent its stock climbing more than 9% in after-hours trading.
The numbers tell the story. Meta brought in $47.52 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 22% from a year ago, as the Techloy chart below shows. Net income hit $18.34 billion, with earnings per share at $7.14, well above the $5.92 analysts had expected. It marked one of Meta’s strongest quarters yet, with earnings growing 36% year over year.
That performance builds on the momentum from Q1, when Meta reported $42.31 billion in revenue. At the time, it had projected Q2 revenue between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion. It didn’t just meet that guidance, it flew past the top end.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
Ad business and user growth drive gains
A big part of Meta’s Q2 growth came from a strong showing in Meta’s cash cow: Advertising. Of this quarter’s revenue, $46.56 billion came from ads, estimated at 98 per cent. That jump was driven by two key factors: an 11% increase in global ad impressions and a 9% rise in the average price per ad.
Both gains track when you realise that Meta’s platforms are still where the world’s attention lives. Daily active users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger reached 3.48 billion in June, a 6% increase year over year. And Meta is getting more out of each user, with average revenue per person up nearly 15% to $13.65.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
A look at Meta's spending strategy
All this is happening while Meta spends like a company on a mission. Costs rose 12% from last year to $27.07 billion in Q2, with full-year expenses projected between $114 billion and $118 billion. A major share of that is going into AI. In June, Meta invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI and brought on its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to co-lead the new Meta Superintelligence Labs. AI hiring and infrastructure are now among the biggest drivers of spending.
It’s a bold push, but it hasn’t hurt profitability. Operating income reached $20.4 billion with a 43% margin. A lower tax rate this quarter—just 11%—also helped push earnings higher.
Not every part of the business is in the black. Reality Labs, Meta’s AR/VR division, posted a $4.53 billion loss on just $370 million in revenue. Still, that loss came in below expectations. And as long as the ad dollars keep flowing, Meta seems content to keep funding its longer-term bets.
Q3 outlook signals more growth ahead
Looking ahead, the company expects Q3 revenue between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, above what analysts had penciled in. That guidance signals confidence not just in where things stand, but where they’re headed.
Big tech may be flooding into artificial intelligence, but Meta just showed that its core business—commanding attention—is still running the show.
