Meta has lost $83.5 billion on Reality Labs since 2021

Meta’s Reality Labs division lost another $4 billion in the first quarter, bringing its cumulative losses since 2021 to $83.5 billion across 21 quarterly earnings reports. The unit, which oversees the company’s AR glasses, VR headsets, and VR software, has averaged roughly $4 billion in losses per quarter over that span. Meta posted first-quarter net income of $26.8 billion on revenue of $56.3 billion, both of which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Net income was up 61 percent and revenue was up 33 percent year-over-year. Despite the strong overall results, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors on Wednesday that the company is increasing its full-year infrastructure capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion, a range that exceeds analysts’ projections and Meta’s prior estimates. He attributed the higher spending in part to rising memory pricing and the need to stay competitive with AI leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Last year, Meta hired more than 50 AI researchers and engineers from competitors, a move that helped the company ship its overhauled Muse Spark model earlier this month. Zuckerberg reported “large increases” in Meta AI use since the release, but the company acknowledged that costs continue to climb. On the earnings call, CFO Susan Li declined to provide a 2027 capital expenditure outlook, telling investors that Meta is undergoing a “dynamic planning process” and that its experience has been that it “continued to underestimate our compute needs.” Meta’s stock fell more than 5 percent in after-hours trading despite the strong earnings.