Meta’s Q2 2024 Financial Report: Ongoing Losses in Reality Labs

Meta’s Q2 2024 Financial Report

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has released its financial report for the second quarter of 2024. According to this report, the company generated $39.07 billion in revenue, while achieving a profit of $13.46 billion. However, the company’s Reality Labs division continued to incur losses, suffering approximately $4.48 billion in losses in the last quarter alone. This situation represents an even greater loss than the $3.73 billion loss Reality Labs reported in the second quarter of 2023.

The revenue from Reality Labs, which includes products such as Quest virtual reality headsets and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, increased from $276 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $353 million, a 28% increase year-over-year. However, this revenue increase was not enough to offset the company’s total loss of $46 billion. Established in 2020 with the aim of building a new computing platform, Reality Labs has incurred approximately $46.54 billion in losses from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2024.

In the latest financial report meeting, Meta emphasized that Reality Labs’ losses would further increase due to ongoing product development efforts and investments aimed at expanding its ecosystem. This situation has created significant discomfort among shareholders.

Shareholder Discontent

Zuckerberg is attempting to develop and market virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift through Reality Labs. However, the world is struggling to adopt these cumbersome virtual reality products. Consequently, the futuristic scenario that Zuckerberg envisions, where everyone walks around with heavy headsets, has not materialized. In the meantime, Facebook/Meta shareholders continue to see billions of dollars go up in smoke.