MENLO PARK, California, April 20, 2026, 11:38 (PDT).
Meta Platforms is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the bell on April 29, with a conference call following at 2:30 p.m. Pacific. Investors will be watching closely to see if the company’s ad revenue can still bankroll its expanding artificial-intelligence ambitions. The stock slipped roughly 2.3% by midday Monday.
The timing’s key here: investors aren’t just chasing revenue gains anymore. Back in January, Meta projected 2026 expenses between $162 billion and $169 billion, with capital spending—covering things like servers and data centers—estimated at $115 billion to $135 billion. The company also reiterated its target to deliver operating income ahead of 2025 levels.
Justin Post at BofA Securities said Monday that Meta looks set to top consensus for the March quarter, with his call at $56 billion in revenue and $7.44 in EPS—both beating the street’s $55.4 billion and $6.64. While he trimmed his price target down to $820 from $885, Post left his Buy rating unchanged, pointing to what he called Meta’s ongoing “expense discipline.” Benzinga
The story of last quarter is fueling the stock’s controversy. Meta posted a 24% jump in revenue to $59.9 billion for the fourth quarter, but expenses surged 40%. Ad impressions were up 18%, while the average price per ad increased 6%—a gain CFO Susan Li attributed to stronger demand from advertisers and improved ad performance.
On that January call, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pushed the AI story hard. “We are now seeing a major AI acceleration,” he said. Meta’s rolling out new AI models across the recommendation engines driving Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and ad products. Li noted that paid messaging on WhatsApp hit a $2 billion annual run rate in the fourth quarter—a fresh indicator of Meta’s push to convert user engagement into revenue, and to do it quickly.
Meta’s competitive position just got a boost. According to Emarketer, Meta is expected to surpass Alphabet’s Google in global digital ad revenue by 2026, with projections showing Meta at $243.46 billion and Google at $239.54 billion. The momentum comes as advertisers increasingly pick up Meta’s Advantage+ automated ad offerings.
Meta is ramping up its AI infrastructure too. The company just renewed and expanded its partnership with Broadcom, locking in a deal through 2029 for new custom AI chips and lining up an initial order exceeding one gigawatt of capacity. It’s a push for more hardware control—Meta joins Alphabet and Amazon in chasing the same goal.
Plenty of pitfalls remain. Higher energy costs are starting to bite, especially for major tech AI initiatives, Reuters said on Monday. S&P Global Visible Alpha’s Melissa Otto flagged last month that if those capital spending plans start getting shelved, “that could be a catalyst” for a bigger market slide. Over in Europe, Meta is under the gun from regulators—last week the European Commission announced plans to force Meta to re-enable rival AI assistants on WhatsApp. The company has also cautioned that mounting legal risks in both the EU and the U.S. could have a significant impact on its results. Reuters
April 29 promises a more focused question: can Meta show its AI outlays are paying off now, not just funding long-term bets? Investors are looking for signs that spending is already improving ad targeting, marketing, and product uptake—something tangible, not just larger expenses. If Meta delivers a solid beat and keeps cost outlook unchanged, that supports Post’s bullish stance. Anything less, and margin worries are likely to resurface fast.
