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Meta’s Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter

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Why This Matters

Meta's Reality Labs continues to face significant financial challenges, with over $4.6 billion in losses in the second quarter despite slight revenue growth. This underscores the ongoing difficulties in mainstream adoption of virtual reality and the company's strategic shift towards wearable devices like Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The continued losses highlight the risks and uncertainties in Meta's long-term metaverse ambitions, impacting investor confidence and industry innovation trajectories.

Key Takeaways

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta President and Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick attend the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., July 9, 2026.

In its second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, Meta said Reality Labs generated revenue of $431 million, up from $370 million a year earlier, while its operating loss widened from $4.53 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were expecting a second-quarter loss of $5.07 billion on revenue of $423.4 million.

Meta's Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality devices and wearables powered by AI, lost $4.62 billion in the latest quarter.

Reality Labs builds the Quest-branded VR headsets and Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The division has generated over $80 billion in total operating losses since late 2020.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to Meta in 2021, underscoring his bet that people would live, work and play in digital worlds. However, the VR market failed to catch on with consumers, resulting in Meta refocusing Reality Labs to devices like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses it develops with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica.

WATCH: Microsoft and Meta set to report earnings after the bell.