Meta Platforms Inc. has announced its capital expenditure projections for 2026, expecting to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion. This figure surpasses analyst estimates of $110.6 billion and represents a significant increase from the $72.2 billion spent in 2025. The primary driver for this substantial investment is the company’s commitment to developing superintelligence labs.
Despite the unprecedented spending plans on artificial intelligence, Meta’s better-than-expected sales outlook has helped to alleviate concerns among Wall Street investors.
Further Insights
- Capital Brief: Meta shares soar on Q1 sales outlook despite AI capex ramp-up
- The Information: Meta Forecasts 73% Jump in 2026 Capex, 40% Rise in Expenses
- CNBC: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg gets green light from Wall Street to keep pouring money into AI
- Financial Times: Meta’s record sales boost shares 10% despite massive spending plans
- Yahoo Finance: Meta beats earnings as 2026 AI capex tops out at $135 billion
- Quartz: Meta crushed the quarter, then sounded a $135 billion alarm
- Reuters: Meta expects annual capital expenditures to rise on superintelligence push
- Wall Street Journal: Meta Reports Record Sales, Massive Spending Hike on AI Buildout
- Channel NewsAsia: Meta boosts annual capex sharply on superintelligence push, shares surge
- Digital Journal: Meta Shares Jump On Strong Earnings Report
- Sherwood News: Meta rises after sales, earnings beat and Q1 revenue guidance exceeds expectations
- The Mac Observer: Meta Q1 2026 Earnings Report Released: Expenses to Rise Up to $169 Billion
- Meta: SEC FORM 8-K
- Barron’s Online: Meta’s AI Spending Spree Weighs on Earnings Outlook
Social Media Discussion
- X (@hedgeyecomm): “Zuck has something big up his sleeve… wonder if it is M&A related…. $META I get the competitive landscape is intense and they want to be careful about what they say on public earnings calls… and there is the policy concerns as well… But this call hit differently…”
- X (@kakashiii111): “Can someone explain to me how Meta is going to finance total expenses of $162-169B, of which $115-135B is CapEx, when Meta’s income has been flat YoY and is expected to remain the same in 2026? How much debt, senior notes, SPVs, and so on will Meta need for that?”
- X (@amitisinvesting): “$META GUIDING $115B-$135B OF CAPEX AHEAD OF $110B ESTIMATES OH MY GOODNESS”
- X (@mikeisaac): “okay my guess is the stock is not getting battered b/c investors like this slide ARPU rocketed up over one quarter. AI ad targeting etc etc”
- X (@firstadopter): “Meta raised 2026 capex guide to $115-135 billion versus $111 billion Wall Street estimate. Obviously, this is bullish for Nvidia.”
- X (@thetranscript_): “$META CFO: “We anticipate 2026 capex, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $115-135B with Y/Y growth driven by increased investment to support our Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core business””
- X (@hedgeyecomm): “Higher capex and opex… doesn’t matter given the revenue upside!”
- X (@hedgeyecomm): “I’m sorry but Capex and Opex guide should be an after thought on this type of revenue growth… $META They guided total expenses $12-19B higher than consensus… And quick math on implied 2026 assuming 32% Q1 revenue YoY… That is $17B of revenue higher than consensus…”
- X (@supbagholder): “$META +6% as investors are realizing AI capex is a good thing when it increases topline growth.”
- X (@zerohedge): “At the high end of its capex forecast ($135BN), META free cash flow in 2026 will be $0”
- X (@mikeisaac): “meta expects to nearly *double* its capital expenditures spending in 2026 — from 72billion in 2025 to an estimated $115 to $135 billion in 2026 AI!”
- X (@aleabitoreddit): “Btw this $META call at $625 was only 2 weeks ago. 🥳 Hope it goes up even more over the next few weeks, capex spend was overblown since they’re printing money and growing at astounding rates.”
- X (@amitisinvesting): “$META…Mark Zuckerberg: “I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026.””
- X (@mikeisaac): “my guess is this earnings call is going to be an hour of telling investors “actually it’s good we’re spending like a drunken sailor b/c AI helps core business” all while the c-suite is staring at the stock price”
- X (@benitoz): “Meta just guided $115-135B in 2026 CapEx nearly 2x 2025 CFO: “Doubled GPUs to train Gem model. Sequence learning drove 3.5% FB ad lift.” AI spend is WORKING. Hyperscalers keep buying $NVDA demand thesis keeps getting stronger $meta”
- X (@conorsen): “Over the past 21 months $META’s expected 12m capex has increased from $35 billion to $125 billion.”
- X (@bucketshopcap): “You still have doofus accounts on here throwing a fit b/c META is InCINeRaTInG ProFiTS. Yeah, but at least they are showing eye-popping topline growth…AND at their scale, which is literally the entire point of investing in tech. Can’t say the same for too many businesses!”
- X (@_josenajarro): “$META $NVDA CRAZY CAPEX!! We anticipate 2026 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $115-135 billion, with year-over-year growth driven by increased investment to support our Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core”
- X (@tanayj): “[…] Huge amount of investment especially given Meta doesn’t have a cloud business unlike the others spending in that range”
- X (@rihardjarc): “So Zuck finally put out the CapEx numbers now we can move on. $META sees 2026 CapEx $115B-$135B (estimates were $110B).”
- LinkedIn (Kurt Wagner): “Meta reported 4th quarter earnings today — things went well. Holiday sales were better than expected. First quarter projections were better than expected. …”
- Bluesky (@conorsen): “Guiding capex $15bn above estimates when they were estimated to do $17bn in FCF in 2026 means they’re expecting to run pretty close to FCF breakeven.”
- Threads (@documentingmeta): “$META is the best MAG 7 company to own right now and I’m tried of pretending it’s not. if y’all are gonna continue growing revenue at 20+% then please take all the Capex you need”
