Meta Platforms vs Microsoft (META vs MSFT)

Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.

Microsoft is the larger company by revenue ($331.8B vs $201.0B) and market value ($3.7T vs $1.5T). Meta Platforms has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+70.4% cumulative vs +67.4%). Microsoft runs the higher operating margin (46.8% vs 41.4%). Meta Platforms trades at the lower trailing P/E (21.6x vs 28.2x).

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. develops technology products that enable people to connect, share, and build communities through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and AI glasses. Its main offerings include social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp, as well as virtual reality devices such as Meta Quest and AI-powered wearables like Meta AI glasses. Meta serves individual users, creators, businesses, and advertisers worldwide by providing platforms for communication, content sharing, and digital advertising.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products, services, and devices. Its main offerings include operating systems like Windows, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence solutions, and platform-based ecosystems for developers and users. Microsoft serves both business and consumer markets globally, competing in areas such as personal computing, cloud infrastructure, and AI technologies.

Head to head (META FY2025 vs MSFT FY2026)

Metric	METAFY2025	MSFTFY2026
Revenue	$200.97B	$331.84B
Revenue growth (YoY)	22.2%	17.8%
Gross margin	82.0%	67.9%
Operating margin	41.4%	46.8%
Net margin	30.1%	40.3%
Net income	$60.46B	$133.75B
Diluted EPS	$23.49	$17.95
FCF margin	22.9%	20.2%
ROE	27.8%	30.2%
Long-term debt / equity	0.27×	0.07×
Market cap	$1.47T	$3.72T
P/E	21.6×	28.2×

Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (META FY2025, MSFT FY2026). ROE is net income over fiscal-year-end equity; long-term debt / equity counts non-current term debt only. P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.

Five-year trend (as reported)

META by fiscal year	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025
Revenue	$117.93B	$116.61B	$134.90B	$164.50B	$200.97B
Net income	$39.37B	$23.20B	$39.10B	$62.36B	$60.46B
Operating margin	39.6%	24.8%	34.7%	42.2%	41.4%

MSFT by fiscal year	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY2026
Revenue	$198.27B	$211.91B	$245.12B	$281.72B	$331.84B
Net income	$72.74B	$72.36B	$88.14B	$101.83B	$133.75B
Operating margin	42.1%	41.8%	44.6%	45.6%	46.8%

Meta Platforms and Microsoft use different fiscal calendars (META's FY2025 ended 2025-12-31, MSFT's FY2026 ended 2026-06-30), so their fiscal years are shown separately rather than forced into one timeline.

Peer standing

Where each company ranks among the 332 software companies, on the same scale. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it. Percentiles describe position in the distribution, not a rating.

Metric	META	MSFT
Gross margin	82.0%89th percentile of 264	67.9%51st percentile of 264
Operating margin	41.4%97th percentile of 303	46.8%98th percentile of 303
Net margin	30.1%92nd percentile of 307	40.3%97th percentile of 307
FCF margin	22.9%71st percentile of 285	20.2%64th percentile of 285
Revenue growth (YoY)	+22.2%76th percentile of 325	+17.8%67th percentile of 325
ROE	27.8%86th percentile of 285	30.2%87th percentile of 285
P/E	21.6×41st percentile of 169	28.2×53rd percentile of 169
Long-term debt / equity	0.27×37th percentile of 127	0.07×18th percentile of 127
Short interest (days to cover)	1.94d28th percentile of 330	2.05d30th percentile of 330

Short interest

FINRA settlement data	META	MSFT
Shares sold short	28.0M	68.5M
Change vs prior settlement	-10.8%	-15.7%
Days to cover	1.94	2.05
As of settlement	2026-08-14	2026-08-14

Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.

Insider activity (last 90 days)

Form 4 activity (codes P/S)	META	MSFT
Buys	0	0
Sells	62 ($21.1M)	4 ($10.1M)

Non-derivative purchases (code P) and sales (code S) reported on SEC Form 4, which may be open-market or private (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 15% of covered companies saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in a 90-day window.

Held by the same investors

28 tracked 13F managers hold both Meta Platforms and Microsoft as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, ARK Investment Management, Altimeter Capital Management, Bridgewater Associates, Citadel Advisors, Coatue Management, Corvex Management, D. E. Shaw, Dodge & Cox, First Eagle Investment Management, Giverny Capital, Gotham Asset Management and 16 more. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.

Go deeper

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)

Full statements, filings, ownership and peer ranks →

MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT)

Full statements, filings, ownership and peer ranks →

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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.