New York, Jan 29, 2026, 09:32 ET — Regular session
- Meta shares jumped roughly 9% in early U.S. trading following better-than-expected quarterly results and an upbeat revenue forecast.
- The Facebook owner also highlighted a steep increase in 2026 spending driven by its focus on advanced AI.
- Investors are debating if Meta’s ad engine can fund the expansion without squeezing margins.
Meta Platforms shares surged over 9% in early Thursday trading, shrugging off a notable rise in planned spending to zero in on a brighter sales forecast. The stock last traded up 9.3% at $731.18, following Wednesday’s close of $668.73. 1
This matters because Wall Street remains uneasy over how aggressively Big Tech will invest in AI infrastructure—and what that means for profits. Meta’s update lands right in the middle, signaling to investors it plans to ramp up efforts quickly, funding most of it through advertising revenue.
Late Wednesday, Meta bumped its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to $115 billion-$135 billion—capex being cash spent on data centers and equipment—as it pursues “superintelligence,” an AI concept surpassing human thinking, Reuters reported. The company projected first-quarter revenue between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg dubbed 2026 “a big year” during the call, while CFO Susan Li noted capacity constraints and said Meta is securing third-party cloud resources alongside its data center expansion. John Belton from Gabelli Funds described Meta’s valuation as “really not that demanding,” while Jesse Cohen of Investing.com suggested many long-term investors might view 2026 as “a transitional year.” 2
Meta reported Q4 revenue up 24% at $59.89 billion, with diluted EPS hitting $8.88. Costs and expenses surged 40%, pushing the operating margin down to 41%. Ad impressions on its platforms climbed 18%, while the average price per ad grew 6%. The company projects full-year 2026 expenses between $162 billion and $169 billion, flagging legal and regulatory challenges ahead. Zuckerberg also outlined ambitions to push “personal superintelligence” forward in 2026. 3
Meta shares jumped nearly 7% in early Frankfurt trading as brokers lifted their price targets after the company’s earnings and updated spending plans. 4
Traders are weighing if Meta will continue to get credit for growth now, despite heavy spending on AI projects that could take a while to yield results. That calculation has varied among megacaps and can shift quickly once the costs for chips, power, and data centers hit the books.
There’s a downside, though. Should ad demand slow or spending outpace revenue growth, margins could take a hit fast, despite Meta’s size. Regulatory risks still loom large—especially in Europe—where tweaks to ad personalization rules could disrupt targeting and pricing.
Investors now focus on a straightforward but tricky question: how fast the capex translates into actual deployed capacity. Equally crucial is whether ad pricing holds steady as Meta floods its apps with more inventory. Meta’s next report is due April 29. 5
