Meta’s daily active user count reached 3.4B, growing 6% year-over-year, an improvement from previous two quarters were it grew at 5%.

This growth appears linked to AI-based enhancements in targeting, engagement and content delivery, leading to a product that is basically more addictive. The integration of chat-based features like Meta AI (now almost 1B Meta users have access to it) also draws users back.

I believe efforts suggest that AI is having a measurable impact on user activity levels, and is the best example of how AI can produce a positive ROI at scale.

Additionally, engagement is positively impacting revenue growth, with the company raising its revenue outlook for the June quarter by 3%. This implies (assuming they follow their typical pattern and meet the high end of the guidance) that revenue growth for this quarter will be about 16%, in line with the March quarter.

It’s worth noting that the revenue guide would have been stronger if not for pressure from reduced China-based advertising that they highlighted on the earnings call.

Meta reported a 41% operating margin, exceeding the expected 37%. Although the company did not explicitly connect this to AI, prior statements by Zuckerberg indicate that AI-assisted development tools are dramatically improving internal productivity.

The expense guidance for 2025, which was 1% below the previous guidance, is being driven in part by these AI tools that help scale operations without equivalent cost increases. This is another concrete example of AI’s value.

Meta raised its CapEx midpoint by 9%, indicating continued investment in AI and supporting infrastructure. According to comments from CFO Susan Li, part of the increase is due to expanded capacity, while another portion reflects expected cost inflation related to tariffs. Regardless, the company is on track to spend approximately $70B on AI-related CapEx this year, a figure we expect to grow by around 10% in 2026. In other words, the AI infrastructure build-out phase is ongoing.

Meta’s CapEx commentary came on the same evening as Microsoft’s, which suggested that infrastructure spending this year may be somewhat uneven, but is expected to grow next year at a rate similar to revenue, around 10–12%.

Disclaimer