Meta vs Morgan Stanley: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Meta reported $201B of revenue in FY2025 and $60.5B of net income. Morgan Stanley reported $70.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $16.9B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Meta
- Latest revenue
- $201B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $60.5B
- Net margin
- 30.1%
- Revenue growth
- +24.7% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Morgan Stanley
- Latest revenue
- $70.6B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $16.9B
- Net margin
- 23.9%
- Revenue growth
- +8.2% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
Meta
Meta's revenue grew from $116.609B in 2022 to $200.966B in 2025, and net income rose from $23.2B to $60.458B. FY2025 income from operations was $83.276B. In 2026 the story is spending: Q2 2026 costs rose 55% to $42.03B, the operating margin fell to 31% from 43%, and quarterly capex of $31.08B left free cash flow at $784M. Meta had $90.26B of cash and marketable securities and $83.66B of long-term debt at June 30, 2026. It expects 2026 total expenses of $165-169B and still expects 2026 operating income to exceed 2025.
Morgan Stanley
Net revenues rose from $34.6B in 2016 to $70.6B in 2025, with net income reaching $16.9B in 2025. Under James Gorman (CEO 2010-2023) the firm added Smith Barney, E*TRADE, and Eaton Vance to build recurring fee revenue. Under Ted Pick, results accelerated: Q2 2026 net revenue of $21.35B was up 27% year over year, net income of $5.58B was up 58%, and first-half 2026 revenue was about $42B with ROTCE near 27%.
Revenue and profit by year
Meta
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $201B | $60.5B | 30.1% | +22.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $164.5B | $62.4B | 37.9% | +21.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $134.9B | $39.1B | 29.0% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $116.6B | $23.2B | 19.9% | -1.1% | Source |
| FY2021 | $117.9B | $39.4B | 33.4% | +37.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $86B | $29.1B | 33.9% | +21.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $70.7B | $18.5B | 26.1% | +26.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $55.8B | $22.1B | 39.6% | +37.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $40.7B | $15.9B | 39.2% | +47.1% | Source |
| FY2016 | $27.6B | $10.2B | 37.0% | — | Source |
Morgan Stanley
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $70.6B | $16.9B | 23.9% | +14.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $61.8B | $13.4B | 21.7% | +14.1% | Source |
| FY2023 | $54.1B | $9.1B | 16.8% | +0.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $53.7B | $11B | 20.6% | -10.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $59.8B | $15B | 25.2% | +22.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $48.8B | $11B | 22.6% | +17.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $41.5B | $9B | 21.8% | +3.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $40.1B | $8.7B | 21.8% | +5.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $37.9B | $6.1B | 16.1% | +9.6% | Source |
| FY2016 | $34.6B | $6B | 17.3% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Meta
- Advertising
~97.6% (FY2025)
Ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads and WhatsApp; $196.175B in FY2025.
- Other revenue and Reality Labs
~2.4% (FY2025)
WhatsApp Business messaging, Meta Verified subscriptions, Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
Morgan Stanley
- Institutional Securities
Not formally reported
Advisory, underwriting, sales and trading, prime brokerage, lending, and capital markets services.
- Wealth Management
Not formally reported
Advisor fees, brokerage commissions, net interest income, lending, deposits, E*TRADE, and workplace services.
- Investment Management
Not formally reported
Asset-management fees from institutional and individual investors, including Eaton Vance and Parametric products.
- Banking and lending
Not formally reported
Net interest income and lending products connected to wealth and institutional clients.
Business model and strategy
Meta
How it makes money
Meta makes money by selling ads. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads are free to use, and advertisers pay to reach people in feeds, Stories, Reels and click-to-message formats. Advertising produced $196.175B of Meta's $200.966B FY2025 revenue, about 97.6%. Q2 2026 growth came from 14% more ad impressions and a 12% higher average price per ad.
Growth strategy
Meta's growth plan runs through AI. Better ranking and ad-delivery models raise engagement on Reels and feeds and lift ad prices, which drove the 28% revenue growth in Q2 2026. Meta Superintelligence Labs, led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, released the first Muse Spark model in April 2026, followed by a paid API and the Muse consumer AI agent in September 2026.
Competitive advantage
Meta's moat is distribution plus data. Its apps reach 3.60 billion people every day, so new products such as Threads, Meta AI and Muse can launch to a huge audience at once. Advertisers stay because Meta's AI ad tools such as Advantage+ convert across that audience at a scale only Google matches. Meta also owns its compute, custom MTIA chips and frontier models, which reduces its dependence on outside AI suppliers.
Morgan Stanley
How it makes money
Morgan Stanley reports three segments. Institutional Securities earns advisory and underwriting fees, equity and fixed-income trading revenue, prime brokerage financing, and corporate lending income. Wealth Management earns asset-based advisory fees, brokerage commissions, and net interest income on client deposits and loans across its advisor network, E*TRADE, and Morgan Stanley at Work.
Growth strategy
The strategy is to grow client assets across the wealth and investment management franchise, use Morgan Stanley at Work and E*TRADE as feeders into advisor-led accounts, and keep share in equities, advisory, and underwriting. The firm also deploys AI tools for advisors, including assistants built with OpenAI.
Competitive advantage
Morgan Stanley's edge is the combination of a leading equities and advisory franchise with one of the largest wealth platforms in the US. Workplace stock plans and E*TRADE bring in employees and self-directed investors early, and advisor-led wealth management retains them as their assets grow. That mix of fee-based wealth revenue and cyclical Wall Street revenue gives it steadier earnings than a pure investment bank.
Questions about Meta vs Morgan Stanley
Which company has higher revenue — Meta Platforms, Inc. or Morgan Stanley?
Meta Platforms, Inc. reported $201.0B (FY2025), while Morgan Stanley reported $70.6B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Meta Platforms, Inc. is the larger business, with Morgan Stanley reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Meta Platforms, Inc. vs Morgan Stanley?
Meta Platforms, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $1.90T, while Morgan Stanley's is $330.9B. Meta Platforms, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Morgan Stanley.
Which is more financially efficient — Meta Platforms, Inc. or Morgan Stanley?
Meta Platforms, Inc. generates $2.66M / employee in revenue per employee, while Morgan Stanley generates $851k / employee. Meta Platforms, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Meta Platforms, Inc. and Morgan Stanley make money?
Meta Platforms, Inc. and Morgan Stanley generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Meta Platforms, Inc.: Meta makes money by selling ads. Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley reports three segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Meta Platforms, Inc. or Morgan Stanley?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Meta Platforms, Inc. trades at 9.5x P/S and Morgan Stanley at 4.7x P/S. Meta Platforms, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Morgan Stanley. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Meta Platforms, Inc. bigger than Morgan Stanley?
By last reported revenue, Meta Platforms, Inc. ($201.0B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Morgan Stanley ($70.6B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Meta vs Morgan Stanley overview