Meta reports 33% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2026, driven by AI improvements and increased infrastructure investment

Meta's first-quarter 2026 total revenue reached $56.3 billion, up 33% year-over-year. The company reported a 41% operating margin and net income of $26.8 billion ($10.44 per share), though this included an $8.03 billion tax benefit; absent that benefit, net income would have been $18.7 billion and EPS $7.31.

Meta released Muse Spark, its first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, which Zuckerberg said has made Meta AI 'a world-class assistant.' Business AIs facilitated more than 10 million conversations per week in Q1, up from 1 million at the start of the year, with the company planning to expand access to more countries in Q2.

AI-driven ranking improvements lifted engagement: Instagram Reels time spent increased 10% in Q1, Facebook total video time increased more than 8% globally (the largest quarter-over-quarter gain in four years), and same-day posts now represent more than 30% of recommended Reels on Instagram and Facebook (more than double the levels one year ago).

Meta raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $125 billion to $145 billion (up from $115 billion to $135 billion), citing higher component costs particularly memory pricing. The company reported Q1 CapEx of $19.8 billion and plans to deploy more than 1 gigawatt of custom silicon developed with Broadcom, plus AMD chips to complement new NVIDIA systems.