New York, January 7, 2026, 16:36 EST — After-hours
Meta Platforms shares fell 1.8% to $648.69 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after moving between $644.92 and $659.01 during the session.
The slip came as investors kept rotating around big tech and AI names, with Nvidia and Alphabet lifting the Nasdaq even as the S&P 500 ended lower. “Investors have come into 2026 with a similar playbook to last year: Buy tech and forget about it,” Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management, said. 1
Fresh U.S. labor data also kept rate bets in play — the kind of backdrop that can jolt high-valuation growth stocks. Job openings fell 303,000 to 7.146 million in November, while ADP said private payrolls rose 41,000 in December, under forecasts; a Reuters poll cited in the report pegged December nonfarm payroll growth at 60,000 and the unemployment rate at 4.5%. 2
Meta has been in focus since a U.S. appeals court signaled skepticism toward the company’s attempt to shut down a wave of lawsuits alleging social media platforms were built to hook young users. Meta and peers including Snap, Alphabet’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok argue that Section 230 — a 1996 law that shields online platforms from liability tied to user content — blocks the cases; Colorado solicitor general Shannon Stevenson told the panel the claims were “about features” that can be changed without touching third-party posts. 3
Hardware was the other thread. Meta said on Tuesday it had paused international expansion of its Ray-Ban Display smart glasses because of limited supply and strong U.S. demand, pushing waitlists “well into 2026,” while it rethinks how to sell abroad; it had planned launches in the UK, France, Italy and Canada. The glasses are made with EssilorLuxottica’s Ray-Ban, and Meta also unveiled new features at CES in Las Vegas, including a teleprompter mode controlled with its Neural Band wrist device and an expansion of pedestrian navigation to more cities; IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo said Meta sold 15,000 units in the first quarter of sales and took 6% market share in the category. 4
On the legal front, Meta is also reshuffling at the top. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said former Microsoft legal executive C.J. Mahoney would become chief legal officer, replacing Jennifer Newstead, who is leaving to be general counsel at Apple; “C.J. brings world-class legal expertise … and deep insight into the global regulatory challenges,” Zuckerberg wrote in an internal post seen by Axios. 5
But the tape can turn fast. If the youth-addiction cases survive early legal challenges, investors could start pricing in higher litigation costs or changes to product design, while the smart-glasses supply pinch underscores how hard it is to scale hardware even when demand shows up.
Next up for markets is the U.S. Employment Situation report for December, due Friday, January 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET — a data point that could reset rate expectations into the next leg of earnings season.
