NEW YORK, May 31, 2026, 08:22 (EDT)
Meta Platforms shares start the week as investors look at a new sign of the Facebook parent’s AI product push. Reports late Friday pointed to an AI-powered pendant, along with a wider wearables strategy.
Meta will begin testing its AI pendant next year, with a broader push on new AI glasses, The Information said, according to Reuters. Meta told Reuters it had no comment. Reality Labs, the company’s hardware group, booked a $4.03 billion loss for the first quarter on $402 million in revenue, which means any device launch faces scrutiny for cost control, not just big ideas.
U.S. markets are shut for the weekend, making Friday’s close the last trade. Meta finished at $632.51, off 0.44% for the day. Shares climbed about 3.6% for the Memorial Day-shortened week. Nasdaq’s 2026 holiday calendar listed U.S. stock markets as closed on Monday, May 25.
The move topped the benchmarks. The Nasdaq Composite was up 2.4% for the week, and the S&P 500 added 1.4%, with AP saying the index now has nine weekly gains in a row, the longest streak going back to 2023. Tech led again, with investors buying up stocks on AI computing demand.
Meta handed out a dividend announcement, too. The board set a quarterly payout of 52.5 cents per share, for shareholders on record June 15. The payment goes out June 25.
Spending remains the main story. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Meta’s annual meeting the company could start a cloud-computing unit if AI expansion leaves extra datacenter capacity, TechRadar reported. Meta isn’t offering a public cloud service right now, which would keep it behind Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet, but Zuckerberg said a move is “definitely on the table.” TechRadar
Capital expenditures are still the key for the stock. Meta in its first-quarter update put 2026 capex at $125 billion to $145 billion. The earlier range was $115 billion to $135 billion. The company guided second-quarter revenue between $58 billion and $61 billion.
No free pass for Meta from analysts. Gil Luria, managing director at D.A. Davidson, told Reuters after the April results that Meta’s numbers “met expectations, but failed to impress investors,” with Alphabet showing stronger growth. Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said on the call: “We don’t really know what the optimal size of a company will be in the future.” Reuters
Staff have already raised the question. Earlier this month, Reuters said Meta was cutting 10% of its workforce and shifting 7,000 staff to AI teams. Zuckerberg later told workers in a memo that Meta did “not expect other company-wide layoffs this year.” Reuters
The risk is clear. If Meta’s new AI tools, wearables, and subscriptions don’t bring in revenue fast, the company faces bigger infrastructure costs, continued losses from Reality Labs, and possible legal or regulatory bills tied to youth safety and privacy issues. A strong U.S. jobs report could push Treasury yields higher and hit growth stocks, since those shares rely on future profits.
Investors face another test this week as the May nonfarm payrolls report comes out June 5. The report is watched for signals on inflation and the odds of Fed rate hikes that could hit stocks, Reuters reported. Liz Ann Sonders at Schwab Center for Financial Research said a “hot employment report alongside still-rising inflation numbers” might shift expectations on Fed policy. Earnings from Broadcom are another key check for the AI trade. Reuters
Meta isn’t just facing the usual question about how important AI is. Now investors want to know if AI can actually pay for itself before they get tired of footing the bill.
