New York, January 7, 2026, 10:39 EST — Regular session
Meta Platforms, Inc. shares fell on Wednesday after a report that Chinese officials are reviewing the Facebook parent’s planned $2 billion purchase of artificial intelligence startup Manus, raising the risk of a regulatory delay. The stock was down 2.2% at $646.20 in morning trading. The Financial Times said China’s commerce ministry was assessing whether the deal would need an export license — a government permit to move controlled technology out of the country — and warned the process could, in an extreme case, push the parties to abandon the transaction. 1
That matters because Meta has been leaning harder on AI in its apps and ad tools, and investors have treated deal-making as one way to buy speed. Cross-border reviews can stretch for months, and even the hint of a political gate can force traders to re-price the upside.
Regulatory risk is not the only moving part this week. Meta has not posted any upcoming events on its investor page, leaving traders without a firm date for the next results while a cluster of legal and product headlines circulates.
Late Tuesday, a U.S. appeals court appeared skeptical of Meta’s effort to end more than 2,200 lawsuits accusing big social media platforms of hooking children. Meta and peers including Snap’s Snapchat, Alphabet’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok say Section 230 — a 1996 law that generally shields sites from liability over user-posted content — bars the claims. “When Congress wants to give immunity from suit, it knows how to say that,” Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said during the hearing. 2
Meta also named C.J. Mahoney, a former Microsoft legal executive and ex-deputy U.S. trade representative, as chief legal officer starting Wednesday. He will report to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who said Mahoney brings “deep insight into the global regulatory challenges facing our industry”. Jennifer Newstead, the departing legal chief, is set to join Apple as general counsel in March. 3
On the product side, Meta has paused international expansion of its Ray-Ban Display glasses because of tight supply and strong U.S. demand, the company said. It said waitlists “extend well into 2026” as it prioritizes U.S. orders, and IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo said Meta sold 15,000 units in the first quarter and captured 6% market share in the category. Meta also used CES in Las Vegas to tease a teleprompter feature and expand pedestrian navigation to more cities. 4
Technicians are watching whether the stock can hold around its 50-day moving average, roughly $648, and whether it can work back above the 200-day line near $675. Those moving averages are simply the average price over those periods, often used as crude gauges of trend and support. 5
But the backdrop remains tricky. Meta has warned that capital spending will be “notably larger” in 2026 as it builds AI data center capacity, a plan that can squeeze margins if ad growth slows or costs run hot. Add in cross-border scrutiny and litigation that may take years to resolve, and the stock can swing on headlines. 6
Investors now watch for any official word on the Manus review and for a date for Meta’s next quarterly report, but the calendar is already set for markets. The December CPI report is due Jan. 13, and the Federal Reserve meets Jan. 27-28. The nearest catalyst is Friday’s U.S. employment report on Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
