Meta Platforms’ META third-quarter 2026 results, set to be reported on Oct. 21, are expected to reflect higher advertising revenues, driven by sustained growth in user engagement and ad impressions across its Family of Apps. In the second quarter of 2026, Meta Platforms reported $59.4 billion in ad revenues, up 27% year over year, with a 14% increase in ad impressions and a 12% rise in average price per ad.
The company’s growing adoption of AI-powered advertising tools is also expected to support advertising revenue growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Meta Platforms' third-quarter advertising revenues is pegged at $61.808 billion, indicating growth of 23.41% year over year.
Click here to learn how Meta Platforms’ overall third-quarter performance is likely to be.
META’s AI Push to Aid Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp in Q3
Meta Platforms' third-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from aggressive artificial intelligence (AI) investments, which are improving user engagement, content recommendations and advertising efficiency across Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp. The company’s AI-powered recommendation systems and advertising tools are likely to have driven monetization and supported Family of Apps revenue growth in the quarter to be reported.
Meta Platforms, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Meta Platforms, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Meta Platforms, Inc. Quote
Instagram is benefiting from AI-driven improvements in Feed and Reels recommendations. In the second quarter of 2026, global time spent on Instagram increased at a double-digit rate year over year, primarily driven by improved recommendations. Meta Platforms' integration of large language models (LLMs) into content-ranking systems is enhancing personalization and content discovery. Early LLM-based advertising initiatives delivered a 1% increase in app event conversions on Instagram, highlighting improving monetization efficiency. The company’s latest Reels ranking improvements drove a 15-basis-point increase in Instagram sessions, supporting engagement growth.
Threads is emerging as an important growth driver for META. The platform surpassed 500 million monthly active users in the second quarter of 2026. Meta Platforms completed the global expansion of advertisements on Threads during the quarter, which is expected to have supported advertising revenue growth in the third quarter.
WhatsApp is also benefiting from Meta Platforms' AI expansion. The company made its AI-powered business agents globally available on WhatsApp and Messenger, with more than 1 million businesses using them weekly to interact with customers or complete sales. WhatsApp’s paid messaging business also remains a key growth driver.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Meta Platforms' third-quarter Family of Apps revenues is pegged at $62.866 billion, indicating growth of 23.82% year over year.
Zacks Rank & Upcoming Earnings to Watch
Meta Platforms currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Alkami Technology ALKT, ASE Technology ASX, and Entegris ENTG are some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. While ASE Technology sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Alkami Technology and Entegris carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Alkami Technology, ASE Technology and Entegris are expected to report their quarterly results on Oct. 28, Oct. 29 and Oct. 29, respectively. While shares of ASE Technology and Entegris have surged 153.5% and 71.6%, Alkami Technology shares have plunged 39.2% in the year-to-date period.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).