Social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) reported Q2 CY2025 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 21.6% year on year to $47.52 billion. On top of that, next quarter’s revenue guidance ($49 billion at the midpoint) was surprisingly good and 5.9% above what analysts were expecting. Its GAAP profit of $7.14 per share was 21% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Meta (META) Q2 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $47.52 billion vs analyst estimates of $44.83 billion (21.6% year-on-year growth, 6% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $7.14 vs analyst estimates of $5.90 (21% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $29.62 billion vs analyst estimates of $26.64 billion (62.3% margin, 11.2% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q3 CY2025 is $49 billion at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $46.29 billion
- Operating Margin: 43%, up from 38% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 18%, down from 24.4% in the previous quarter
- Daily Active People: 3.48 billion, up 210 million year on year
- Market Capitalization: $1.76 trillion
"We've had a strong quarter both in terms of our business and community," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO.
Company Overview
Famously founded by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) operates a collection of the largest social networks in the world - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, along with its metaverse focused Reality Labs.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last three years, Meta grew its sales at a solid 14.4% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average consumer internet company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.
This quarter, Meta reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 21.6%, and its $47.52 billion of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 6%. Company management is currently guiding for a 20.7% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 12.1% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last three years. We still think its growth trajectory is satisfactory given its scale and implies the market is baking in success for its products and services.
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Daily Active People
User Growth
As a social network, Meta generates revenue growth by increasing its user base and charging advertisers more for the ads each user is shown.
Over the last two years, Meta’s daily active people, a key performance metric for the company, increased by 6.4% annually to 3.48 billion in the latest quarter. This growth rate is slightly below average for a consumer internet business and is largely a function of its already massive scale and penetrated market. If Meta wants to reach the next level, it likely needs to innovate with new products. 
In Q2, Meta added 210 million daily active people, leading to 6.4% year-on-year growth. The quarterly print isn’t too different from its two-year result, suggesting its new initiatives aren’t accelerating user growth just yet.
Revenue Per User
Average revenue per user (ARPU) is a critical metric to track because it measures how much the company earns from the ads shown to its users. ARPU can also be a proxy for how valuable advertisers find Meta’s audience and its ad-targeting capabilities.
Meta’s ARPU growth has been exceptional over the last two years, averaging 14.5%. Its ability to increase monetization while growing its daily active people demonstrates its platform’s value, as its users are spending significantly more than last year. 
This quarter, Meta’s ARPU clocked in at $13.65. It grew by 14.3% year on year, faster than its daily active people.
Key Takeaways from Meta’s Q2 Results
We were impressed by how significantly Meta blew past analysts’ revenue, EPS, and EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also glad its revenue guidance for next quarter exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 9.7% to $763.12 immediately following the results.
Sure, Meta had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.