{
  "id": 15969615,
  "title": "Meta beats revenue expectations but legal penalties hit profit",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/meta-beats-revenue-expectations-but-legal-penalties-hit-profit-15969615",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-21T22:05:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2026/10/22/meta-beats-revenue-expectations-but-legal-penalties-hit-profit"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Meta reported a profit of US$9.86 billion for Q3 2024, falling short of investor expectations of US$19.75 billion (EPA Images pic). The social media giant's earnings were negatively impacted by an US$18 billion legal settlement with nearly all US states, which dragged profits down by nearly 50%. Just hours after the earnings report, another financial penalty was disclosed, with a New Mexico judge ruling that Meta must pay US$25 billion in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Additionally, Meta has been investing heavily in its artificial intelligence capabilities, spending US$35 billion on capital expenditures in the September quarter, slightly below the US$41 billion expected by investors. Despite these challenges, Meta shares experienced a significant jump of over 4% following the earnings release.",
  "summary": "The company reported its earnings just hours after another financial penalty was announced related to a case in New Mexico.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Meta beats revenue expectations but legal penalties hit profit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/meta-beats-revenue-expectations-but-legal-penalties-hit-profit",
        "published": "2026-10-21T22:05:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Hindustan Times - World News",
        "title": "Meta's Q3 profits dip nearly 50% after $18 billion legal settlement even as company beats revenue estimates",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/metas-q3-profits-dip-nearly-50-after-18-billion-legal-settlement-even",
        "published": "2026-10-21T22:32:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SiliconANGLE",
        "title": "Meta beats on revenue and splits its stock with nonvoting shares to raise capital",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/meta-beats-on-revenue-and-splits-its-stock-with-nonvoting-shares-to",
        "published": "2026-10-21T22:54:48.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}