On August 26, Meta Platforms, Inc. rose 3.53% in regular trading, trading at $592.1 per share, with turnover of $2.098 billion. The rally was driven by the company reaching a landmark settlement with US state attorneys general over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict young users.

According to court filings, Meta agreed to pay states up to $16.68 billion, with California alone receiving $2.2 billion. The settlement resolves all state-level claims across federal and state courts nationwide. Critically, this eliminates the risk of a potential $1.4 trillion adverse ruling — an amount nearly equal to the company's market capitalization — that Meta's own analysis had estimated as a worst-case scenario.

The agreement also mandates platform-level reforms, including disabling like-count visibility for teen users, implementing default daily usage limits and nighttime lockout features, strengthening age verification mechanisms, and providing enhanced parental control tools.

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