Business · Markets · 2 hrs ago
Meta shares fall as AI investment worries hit tech stocks
Meta shares fell more than 7% after the company said its AI investment would require hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding.
Meta is a major US technology company, and its spending plans have become a concern for investors.
The funding needs raised fears about heavy borrowing to build out AI infrastructure.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.7%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.3% as technology stocks sold off.
Investors shifted toward US government bonds, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield down by 0.16 percentage points to below 5%.
Meta’s borrowing risk also drew attention as the cost of insuring its debt rose to a record level.
Meta shares fell more than 7% on Thursday as investors reacted to the company’s plans for heavy artificial intelligence spending.
The company said it expects capital spending of $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026, with a midpoint of about $140 billion.
Meta also reported $825 billion in future financial commitments, including leases, computing agreements and energy contracts.
Its free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion in the third quarter, compared with a positive $10.63 billion a year earlier.
The drop wiped more than $134 billion from Meta’s market value during a half-day of trading.
- Who
- Meta and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, and investors concerned about the company’s spending.
- What
- Meta shares fell more than 7% after the company announced large planned AI investments and future financial commitments.
- When
- Thursday, after Meta released quarterly results on Wednesday.
- Where
- Wall Street.
- Why
- Investors questioned when, or whether, Meta’s AI spending would generate the expected returns.
Meta and Mark Zuckerberg
Concerned investors
AI investment
Meta and Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg expressed optimism about Meta’s AI strategy and said the company would spend heavily to develop its AI technologies.
Concerned investors
Investors questioned whether the spending would produce the expected returns and grew impatient with the scale of the investment.
Meta released quarterly results, and its shares rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading.
Meta shares fell more than 7% after investors focused on its planned AI spending and future financial commitments.
- Meta shares
- Fell more than 7% on Thursday
- 2026 capital spending forecast
- $135 billion to $145 billion
- Future financial commitments
- $825 billion
- Third-quarter free cash flow
- Negative $2.12 billion, compared with positive $10.63 billion a year earlier
- Market value lost
- More than $134 billion during a half-day of trading
4 sources
메타 시총 1240억달러 증발…AI 투자 불안에 나스닥 급락·국채 급등
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What people are saying
The market is asking whether all this spending on artificial intelligence is really generating the returns initially hoped for.