Latest news with #RealityLabs
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Meta shares surge 10% on strong Q2 2025 earnings beat and bullish revenue forecast
Reuters Meta shares surge 10% Meta Platforms Inc. delivered a robust earnings report for the second quarter of 2025, significantly surpassing Wall Street expectations and fueling a more than 10% rally in its after-hours stock trading. The company's strong performance comes amid heavy investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and talent acquisition, demonstrating that these expenditures have yet to impact its profitability or investor confidence. Key financial highlights: Earnings per Share (EPS): Meta posted $7.14 per share, well above the $5.88 analysts expected, representing a substantial 38% year-over-year increase. Total Revenue: The company generated $47.52 billion in revenue, exceeding the $44.81 billion forecasted by Wall Street, marking a 22% increase compared to the previous year. Advertising Revenue: Meta's core advertising business contributed $46.5 billion, outperforming expectations of $44.07 billion. Reality Labs: Although still in the red, the Reality Labs division—which focuses on virtual and augmented reality—reported a loss of $4.49 billion, slightly less than the anticipated $4.8 billion. Operating Margin: Improved to 43% from 38% in the same quarter last year. Daily Active Users: Meta now reaches approximately 3.48 billion users, up by 210 million year-over-year. Market Capitalization: Stands at roughly $1.76 trillion. Meta also raised its guidance for the third quarter of 2025, projecting revenue between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, comfortably above analysts' consensus estimate of $46.23 billion. The midpoint of the forecast sits around $49 billion, about 6% higher than expectations, underscoring confidence in continued growth. Investments and AI ambitions The company continues to double down on artificial intelligence, with major capital investments and a strategic hiring spree that includes poaching top AI researchers from competitors. Capital expenditures for 2025 are now expected to be between $66 billion and $72 billion, up from a prior range of $64 billion to $72 billion. Meta's CFO, Susan Li, highlighted that infrastructure costs related to AI initiatives will remain a significant expense driver moving forward. CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized AI's strategic role in Meta's future, describing ambitions to bring 'personal superintelligence' to nearly 3.5 billion users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. He envisions AI empowering individuals with tools to better shape their world, distinguishing Meta's vision from competitors that focus on centralized automation. Meta's solid earnings beat and optimistic forecast sent its shares soaring by more than 9% during after-hours trading. This marks the tenth consecutive quarter that Meta has exceeded earnings expectations and the twelfth quarter of revenue surpassing estimates, a streak that reflects strong execution despite competitive and technological challenges.
CNBC
5 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Meta's Reality Labs posts $4.53 billion loss in second quarter
Meta's Reality Labs, the unit tasked with building the futuristic metaverse, continues bleeding money. The social media company reported its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and revealed that Reality Labs logged an operating loss of $4.53 billion while recording $370 million in sales during the period. Analysts were projecting that unit to post a second-quarter operating loss of $4.99 billion while generating $381 million in sales. The Reality Labs division oversees the Quest line of virtual reality headsets in addition to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which are jointly developed with the French-Italian eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica. Meta wants Reality Labs to create cutting-edge products similar to the prototype Orion augmented reality glasses that could underpin a new, immersive computing platform. But developing VR, AR and other new devices is an expensive endeavor, with the Reality Labs division logging nearly $70 billion in cumulative losses since late 2020. Meta in April said Reality Labs recorded an operating loss of $4.2 billion during the first quarter while bringing in $412 million in sales. Although the Quest VR headsets haven't become breakout hits, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are showing signs of success. EssilorLuxottica on Monday said Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses sales more than tripled year over year for the first half of 2025. The eyewear giant and Meta debuted in June the new Oakley Meta smart glasses, which is the latest product spawned from their partnership. Meta said in April that an undisclosed number of Reality Labs employees who were part of its Oculus Studios VR and AR software unit were laid off.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
After a 700% Rally Over the Last 3 Years, This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Looks Poised For Even More Monster Gains
Key Points Meta stock experienced a massive sell-off a few years ago as the company's foray into the metaverse was ill-received. Meta has reinvented itself by slashing costs and re-allocating its savings into artificial intelligence (AI) services. Meta's financial productivity has completely turned around, and many of its AI investments are yet to fully scale -- suggesting even more growth ahead. 10 stocks we like better than Meta Platforms › Three years ago, shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) hit a low around $89 as the company's ambitious plans to conquer the metaverse appeared to be rooted more in fantasy than reality. To add some perspective, Meta stock had not traded anywhere near those levels for almost a decade. The precipitous decline in Meta stock was a clear signal from Wall Street and retail investors that sentiment hadn't just soured, but that enthusiasm surrounding the company's future was nearly non-existent. Nevertheless, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, did what many successful entrepreneurs before him have done. He remained grounded, worked collaboratively with a supporting cast of executives, and developed a path forward to win over investors again. Spoiler alert: His plan has worked (so far). Over the last three years, Meta stock has climbed from $89 per share to roughly $718 as of this writing (July 25). While a 700% return might suggest that Meta's best days are behind it, I think the ride is just getting started. Let's dive into how Meta turned around its situation, and explore why the company's pivot from the metaverse to artificial intelligence (AI) should have investors more excited than ever. Meta's turnaround is nothing short of remarkable The chart below illustrates trends across Meta's operating expenses, capital expenditures (capex), and cash flow from operations per employee over the last several years. Throughout 2021 and 2022, operating expenses ballooned as Meta invested aggressively in its Reality Labs division. These investments included new lines of wearable glasses, and upgrades to the company's virtual reality headset, Meta Quest. While these new products garnered some interest at first, overall enthusiasm eventually waned. Reality Labs is a non-profitable segment within Meta's overall business and is often perceived as a cash strain on the company's high-margin advertising empire. In 2023, Meta's management declared a "year of efficiency" during which the company made dramatic cost reductions. As the company cut the excess from an inflated cost profile, Meta reallocated its savings into a new area of focus: AI. As the chart above illustrates, Meta has remained disciplined in its approach to spending since its reductions over the last couple of years. Although capex has been rising, these investments in AI infrastructure could be seen as much higher-margin than prior moonshots on the metaverse. Strong unit economics in the form of rising cash flow per employee suggest that Meta's investments in the AI realm have (so far) helped drive more productivity and efficiency from employees and provided the company with robust operating leverage. Wall Street is bullish on Meta I think the current price action surrounding Meta stock reflects a feeling of validation around the company's cost-cutting efforts and strategic pivot to AI. With that said, I am not convinced that Meta stock is priced to perfection just yet. Per the estimates below, it's clear that Wall Street is calling for even further revenue acceleration and profit margin expansion for Meta over the next few years as the company unlocks new sources of AI-driven growth. Since the company's investment in Scale AI and the subsequent creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) are yet to bear fruit, I'm cautiously optimistic that the estimates above may wind up being conservative in hindsight. In other words, I do not think the forecast above fully (or accurately) captures the accretive effect that Scale AI or MSL could have on Meta's business at scale. For these reasons, I think Meta remains a compelling buy-and-hold opportunity for investors with a long-term time horizon. Should you invest $1,000 in Meta Platforms right now? Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $633,452!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,083,392!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,046% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Adam Spatacco has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. After a 700% Rally Over the Last 3 Years, This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Looks Poised For Even More Monster Gains was originally published by The Motley Fool Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. 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Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
Meta's new wearable lets you control screens hands-free
Forget the mouse. Forget the keyboard. Meta's new gesture control wristband might just be the most seamless way to control a computer yet. And no, it doesn't require surgery, a camera, or even a touchscreen. All it needs is your wrist. This futuristic device uses electrical signals from your muscles to understand what your hand wants to do, even if it never actually moves. Think of it as a translator between your nervous system and your favorite device. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts, and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide - free when you join my This wristband was developed by researchers at Meta's Reality Labs, where scientists have been working on non-invasive, wearable tech that helps people interact with computers naturally. Unlike typical gesture systems that need a camera or special lighting, this device picks up on muscle activity alone. That's huge. Especially for people with reduced mobility, muscle weakness, or even limb loss, this opens up new ways to engage with technology. At the heart of this innovation is a technology called surface electromyography or sEMG. The wristband captures tiny electrical signals that fire in your wrist muscles when you intend to move. Meta's team trained AI models on thousands of participants to recognize these signals without needing to calibrate for each person. Thanks to deep learning, the system can now: You can even write in the air at 20.9 words per minute, nearly as fast as typing on your phone. Meta's wearable is a new kind of human-computer interface, one that doesn't need a screen, controller, or touch. That makes it ideal for on-the-go use with smart glasses, phones, or even future AR devices. And because it doesn't require calibration for each user, it's ready out of the box. This could enable wide adoption, especially in public settings or for people who switch devices frequently. Meta's sEMG research device, also called sEMG-RD, was described in Nature. The study highlights both the technical breakthrough and its practical applications. The team achieved over 90% accuracy in recognizing gestures, even across different users, with no tuning required. To encourage further research, Meta is releasing a public dataset of sEMG recordings from 300 participants. This could help accelerate progress in areas like prosthetics, gaming, and accessibility tech. This isn't Meta's first foray into gesture tech. But this wristband represents something bigger: a move toward frictionless, brain-to-device communication, without implants. It builds on years of research in AR, neuromotor interfaces, and AI model scaling. Meta's wristband could change how you interact with your devices, whether you have a disability or just want a faster way to get things done. Instead of tapping or typing, your wrist muscles can now act as the controller. This means less strain, more freedom, and a whole new way to stay connected on the go. If you've ever wished for a simpler way to text, scroll, or select items without touching a screen, this tech makes it possible. And because it works without a custom setup, you can start using it almost instantly. Now, while Meta's wristband shows real promise, it's still in the research phase and not yet available to consumers. However, it offers a glimpse of where everyday tech may be headed. Meta's gesture control wristband offers a fresh way to interact with technology. By reading your wrist muscles, it replaces screens and buttons with simple, intuitive gestures. This kind of wearable reimagines how we access digital tools, making everyday tasks quicker, easier, and more inclusive. Whether you're exploring new AR interfaces or just want a more flexible way to control your devices, this technology brings that vision closer to reality. What if your wrist could replace your keyboard, mouse, and touchscreen all at once? Would you buy and wear Meta's wristband, or do you prefer the current state of things? Let us know by writing us at Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts, and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide - free when you join my Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
Mint
7 days ago
- Science
- Mint
Wristband that senses your muscle signals could soon replace keyboards and touchscreens, says Meta
For many years, people have found new ways to interact with computers. Now, Meta is developing a wristband that allows users to control devices by reading muscle signals from the wrist. This new technology uses subtle hand movements to operate computers without the need for keyboards, mice, or screens, making interaction more natural and easier. Meta's Reality Labs has been studying a technology called surface electromyography, or sEMG. This method measures tiny electrical signals produced by muscles in the wrist when the user moves their hand. By detecting these signals, computers can understand gestures such as tapping, swiping, and pinching. The system works without bulky equipment and does not require invasive sensors, making it a potentially great solution. Meta recently published a paper in the journal Nature to share their progress. They trained machine learning models using data from over 300 people performing various tasks. Their models are able to interpret muscle signals accurately across a wide range of users without needing much personal calibration. In fact, the accuracy improves with some individual adjustments which makes the technology adaptable to different users. The wristband was first tested with Meta's augmented reality glasses known as Orion. This setup allows people to type messages, control menus, and engage with digital content just by moving their hands. The wristband can even recognise handwriting on a surface such as a table or a leg. Fascinating, right? This discreet method of communication is useful in situations where voice or traditional inputs are inconvenient. One important advantage of this technology is its inclusivity. It works well for people with various physical abilities without needing implants or complicated devices. Because it is non-invasive and comfortable, it can help people who face difficulty using regular input devices gain greater independence. Meta is also sharing the data, software models, and design guidelines with researchers. This open approach aims to accelerate new discoveries and innovations in muscle signal-based device control across the world. Though still in development, this wristband may soon change the way people interact with computers. It offers a hands-free and intuitive way to control devices in settings where talking or touching a screen is not practical. What's Meta's goal? Meta envisions a future where devices understand the natural signals from our bodies. This approach moves beyond keyboards, voice commands, and touchscreens. The result could be more seamless, private, and convenient communication and control - but we'll have to wait and see.
