Meta Stock Loses $175 Billion After AI Expense Estimate Shakes Shareholders
Meta Platforms (META) shares dropped roughly 10% on Thursday, erasing about $175 billion in market worth. The next 2026 capital expenditure forecast of $125 billion to $145 billion triggered the selloff.
The decline marked the inventory’s largest single-day proportion drop in roughly six months. It got here regardless of Q1 2026 earnings that exceeded Wall Street estimates on each income and revenue.
Capex Hike Spooks META Investors
As of this writing, META inventory was buying and selling for $606.43, down by virtually 10% within the final 24 hours, wiping out up prime $175 billion from its market cap at the moment alone.
The new spending vary sits roughly 7% above the earlier January steering of $115 billion to $135 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Susan Li attributed the rise to larger memory-chip pricing. She additionally cited extra knowledge heart prices tied to synthetic intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth downgraded Meta to Neutral and reduce the financial institution’s worth goal to $725 from $825. The notice flagged intensifying full-stack AI competitors and a tougher path to returns.
Q1 capex alone reached $19.8 billion, in step with the broader Big Tech race in AI infrastructure.
Earnings Beat Overshadowed
Meta reported income of $56.31 billion, up 33% 12 months over 12 months, the strongest quarterly development since 2021. Net revenue reached $26.8 billion, or $10.44 per diluted share. An $8 billion one-time tax profit tied to U.S. Treasury R&D steering lifted that determine.
Ad income stayed robust as AI-powered content material suggestions boosted engagement on Reels and video.
Yet the response echoed earlier sell-offs after prior Meta capex hikes. The sample repeatedly overshadows robust fundamentals with spending fears.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the technique on the decision. He framed the upper outlay as a vote of confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap.
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