Mark Zuckerberg's Meta sees profits crashing as it takes a $16 billion tax charge related to Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'

President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill has resulted in a $16 billion hit for Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. Meta Platforms has taken a near $16 billion one-off charge in the third quarter (Q3) related to President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.

The company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said that the bill had led the business to take a non-cash income tax charge of $15.93 billion.

Meta said that excluding this, its third-quarter net income would have increased by $15.93 billion to $18.64 billion, compared with the reported net income of $2.71 billion. The expense crashed Meta's third-quarter profit.Incidentally, this is the same bill that Elon Musk and President Trump

What Meta said on the $16 billion tax charge

The implementation of Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act led to “the recognition of a valuation allowance against our U.S.

federal deferred tax assets, reflecting the impact of the U.S. Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax,” Meta said. Meta also said, “We expect a significant reduction in our U.S. federal cash tax payments for the remainder of 2025 and future years due to the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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Wall Street not happy with net income falling

The markets didn't seem pleased with $16 billion charge taken by Meta, as the company's stock fell sharply lower on Wall Street, though briefly.

The shares fell $53.60, or 7 per cent, to $698.99 in after-hours trading on Wall Street but recovered to close at $751.67, up less than 1 per cent.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Meta Q3 results

“We had a strong quarter for our business and our community,” Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, said in announcing the results. “Meta Superintelligence Labs is off to a great start and we continue to lead the industry in AI glasses. If we deliver even a fraction of the opportunity ahead, then the next few years will be the most exciting period in our history.”The company ended the quarter with $44.45 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Meta’s headcount was 78,450 employees as of September 30, up 8% year-over-year.As for quarterly guidance, Meta said that it anticipates fourth quarter total revenue to be $56 billion-$59 billion and full-year 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be $70 billion-$72 billion.