Alphabet vs Meta Platforms
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
The short version
- Alphabet is the larger business, with $402.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $201.0B for Meta Platforms, about 2.0 times as much.
- Meta Platforms grew revenue faster (22.2%, against 15.1%).
- Meta Platforms kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (41.4% operating margin, against 32.0%).
- Meta Platforms turned more of its sales into free cash flow (22.9% FCF margin, against 18.2%).
- Alphabet earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (36.7%, against 35.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Meta Platforms’s earnings: a P/E of 21.9x against 16.1x for Alphabet.
| Latest fiscal year | GOOGL · FY25 | META · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.94T | $1.65T |
| Revenue | $402.8B | $201.0B |
| Free cash flow | $73.3B | $46.1B |
| Net income | $132.2B | $60.5B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 15.1% | 22.2% |
| 5-year growth | 17.2% | 18.5% |
| Share count change | −1.7% | −1.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 59.7% | 82.0% |
| Operating margin | 32.0% | 41.4% |
| Net margin | 32.8% | 30.1% |
| FCF margin | 18.2% | 22.9% |
| Return on capital | 36.7% | 35.5% |
| Return on equity | 35.7% | 30.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$75.3B | −$21.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.5x | −0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $55.8B | $31.6B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.1x | 21.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
GOOGL $90.3B
META $27.6B
FY17
GOOGL $110.9B
META $40.7B
FY18
GOOGL $136.8B
META $55.8B
FY19
GOOGL $161.9B
META $70.7B
FY20
GOOGL $182.5B
META $86.0B
FY21
GOOGL $257.6B
META $117.9B
FY22
GOOGL $282.8B
META $116.6B
FY23
GOOGL $307.4B
META $134.9B
FY24
GOOGL $350.0B
META $164.5B
FY25
GOOGL $402.8B
META $201.0B
GOOGL
META
Operating margin
FY16
GOOGL 26.3%
META 45.0%
FY17
GOOGL 23.6%
META 49.7%
FY18
GOOGL 20.1%
META 44.6%
FY19
GOOGL 21.2%
META 33.9%
FY20
GOOGL 22.6%
META 38.0%
FY21
GOOGL 30.6%
META 39.7%
FY22
GOOGL 26.5%
META 24.8%
FY23
GOOGL 27.4%
META 34.7%
FY24
GOOGL 32.1%
META 42.2%
FY25
GOOGL 32.0%
META 41.4%
GOOGL
META
Free cash flow
FY16
GOOGL $25.8B
META $11.6B
FY17
GOOGL $23.9B
META $17.5B
FY18
GOOGL $22.8B
META $15.4B
FY19
GOOGL $31.0B
META $21.2B
FY20
GOOGL $42.8B
META $23.6B
FY21
GOOGL $67.0B
META $39.0B
FY22
GOOGL $60.0B
META $19.3B
FY23
GOOGL $69.5B
META $44.1B
FY24
GOOGL $72.8B
META $54.1B
FY25
GOOGL $73.3B
META $46.1B
GOOGL
META
Return on capital
FY16
GOOGL 35.0%
META —
FY17
GOOGL 23.5%
META —
FY18
GOOGL 38.1%
META —
FY19
GOOGL 37.2%
META —
FY20
GOOGL 36.4%
META —
FY21
GOOGL 56.9%
META —
FY22
GOOGL 43.5%
META 26.9%
FY23
GOOGL 41.8%
META 38.1%
FY24
GOOGL 43.4%
META 50.8%
FY25
GOOGL 36.7%
META 35.5%
GOOGL
META
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.