New York, Jan 13, 2026, 16:03 EST — After-hours
- Meta shares dropped 1.8% Tuesday, slipping to an intraday low of $624.24
- According to a report, Meta plans to slash roughly 10% of staff in its Reality Labs division
- Zuckerberg unveiled “Meta Compute” amid Meta’s drive to expand its AI infrastructure by multiple gigawatts
Shares of Meta Platforms dropped 1.8% on Tuesday following news of planned job cuts within its Reality Labs unit and increased investment in AI infrastructure. The stock last traded at $630.70, after hitting a low of $624.24 earlier in the day.
Timing is crucial as investors question how much Big Tech must invest in data centers and power deals to support large AI models. Meta aims to prove its advertising engine can fund that expansion without triggering another profit forecast revision.
Reality Labs tells a different story. Cutting metaverse losses might calm some investors, yet it also highlights just how much the company has strayed from its initial bet on virtual worlds.
The New York Times says Meta is set to slash about 10% of its 15,000-strong Reality Labs workforce, with an announcement possibly coming as early as Tuesday. The layoffs are expected to hit hardest in teams focused on virtual-reality headsets and virtual social networks. Meta hasn’t yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment. According to Reuters, the division has burned through over $60 billion since 2020. CTO Andrew Bosworth has scheduled an in-person meeting for Wednesday.
Zuckerberg announced to employees and investors that he’s centralizing the company’s AI infrastructure under a new top-level initiative called “Meta Compute,” which will manage data centers and key supplier deals. On Threads, he revealed Meta’s plan to build “tens of gigawatts this decade, and hundreds of gigawatts or more over time.” The effort is co-led by infrastructure chief Santosh Janardhan and Daniel Gross. Reuters reported that Meta has inked 20-year power purchase agreements with three Vistra nuclear plants and is supporting projects involving small modular reactors. After the lukewarm reception to its Llama 4 model, Meta is planning capital spending of up to $72 billion in 2025, focusing on equipment and long-term assets like data centers. Reuters
Meta on Monday introduced Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman. The company, in a post, highlighted Powell McCormick’s role in shaping strategy and advancing its frontier AI initiatives, along with the infrastructure to back them. She previously served on Meta’s board.
But the pivot carries risks: investors still don’t have concrete figures on how fast Meta’s power and data-center expansion will ramp up, and heavy spending could pinch free cash flow if ad growth slows. Powell McCormick’s hire raised eyebrows too, since her husband, U.S. Senator David McCormick, leads a Senate subcommittee on energy policy. Sacha Haworth, executive director of Tech Oversight Project, told Reuters the senator “should recuse himself from every vote or committee action that involves Meta’s business.” Reuters
Separately, a U.S. securities filing revealed that Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan submitted a Form 144, signaling his intent to sell 517 Class A shares worth roughly $337,601 via Charles Schwab. The filing noted the sale would occur under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan, a prearranged trading strategy that schedules sales ahead of time.
U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday, dragged down by financial shares, as investors absorbed December inflation figures that matched expectations, Reuters reported.
In the upcoming session, traders will focus on the scale and timing of Reality Labs cuts, and if those savings might be funneled into wearables or the AI infrastructure drive. New details on long-term power procurement or the pace of “Meta Compute” expansion could quickly shift estimates.
Meta hasn’t set a date for its upcoming quarterly report yet, but market trackers are eyeing early February, with Nasdaq pegging it at Feb. 4. That earnings release will probably be the next key moment to gauge if investors remain patient with the company’s spending or start pushing hard for evidence of returns.
