Meta Platforms expected to beat Q3 estimates driven by strong AI execution

[Facebook Covers Sign At Menlo Park Headquarters]
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/META]), the parent company of Facebook, is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, October 29th, after the closing bell.

Analysts on consensus expect the tech giant to report earnings per share of $6.66 on revenue of $49.39B, a more than 21% increase from last year.

SA analyst Deep Value Investing sees a favorable Q3 2025 setup [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4831897-meta-ultra-bullish-heading-into-q3-earnings-with-a-likely-capex-upward-revision-at-the-midpoint] for Meta Platforms driven by strong AI infrastructure execution during the quarter, as noted by the deals announced during the quarter.

However, several risks were noted in the analysis, such as possible EU LPA-driven ad changes with significant near-term revenue impact, the DMA non-compliance dispute, and the EU political-ad pause from early Oct 2025.

SA author Agar Capital considers Meta Platforms a strong buy, uniquely positioned as the backbone of global AI infrastructure with robust, cash-funded growth.

META's capital expenditures are efficiently managed off-balance-sheet [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4831859-meta-platforms-q3-preview-price-up-pe-down-only-ai-utility-still-discounted], supporting massive AI investments without burdening financial multiples or increasing leverage.

There has been considerable optimism around Meta’s upcoming earnings announcement, with analysts having revised EPS estimates 33 times in the upward direction and revenue estimates 40 times.

Ahead of the report, Meta is making headlines for job cuts [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4506637-meta-to-cut-600-jobs-in-its-ai-superintelligence-unit---report] within its superintelligence unit. According to Axios, the company will eliminate about 600 roles across its Fundamental AI Research lab (FAIR) and its product and infrastructure-focused AI teams.

In an internal memo, newly appointed AI chief Alexandr Wang said the restructuring aims to make the division “more agile,” reducing layers of decision-making to increase individual impact. Employees in the U.S. were notified Wednesday morning.

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