New Mexico Hits Meta With $25B Fine as Q3 Earnings Carry $9.89B Legal Charge
META sits 37% above its 52-week low of $520.26.
Summary
A New Mexico court fined Meta $25 billion over Cambridge Analytica data violations affecting roughly 43 million users between 2010 and 2021; the judgment accrues interest and Meta plans to appeal. The fine lands alongside Q3 results that beat on both lines: revenue of $64.6 billion rose 26% and cleared the $63.37 billion consensus, while EPS of $3.83 absorbed a $9.89 billion one-time legal charge tied to August 2026 teen mental health litigation (about $7.40 adjusted). Advertising revenue was $63.06 billion on 10% more impressions and a 14% higher average ad price, but capex of $34.91 billion pushed free cash flow to negative $2.12 billion. Management guided Q4 revenue to $73-76 billion and raised 2026 AI infrastructure spending to $135-145 billion, to be partly financed by a non-voting Class C share issuance in January 2027 structured to preserve Mark Zuckerberg's control. Reality Labs losses are projected at $18-19 billion for fiscal 2026, possibly narrowing to about $15 billion in 2027. The appeal of the New Mexico judgment is the key near-term swing factor on the legal overhang.
At the time of this announcement, META was trading at $712.65 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.8T. The 52-week trading range was $520.26 to $779.82. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 9 out of 10. Source: Wiseek News.