Meta $META ( ▲ 1.46% ) surged after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results and issuing a revenue forecast that topped Wall Street estimates. Investors cheered the top-line strength, even as the company outlined a massive increase in spending.
Ads keep printing money
Meta posted record quarterly revenue of $59.9 billion, beating expectations, while earnings per share also came in well above forecasts. The strength underscores how effective Meta remains at turning user engagement into advertising dollars across Facebook, Instagram, and its other platforms.
For the current quarter, Meta expects revenue between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion, comfortably ahead of analyst projections. That outlook helped reassure investors that ad demand and platform monetization remain healthy.
Spending spree gets even bigger
The catch is cost. Meta now expects capital expenditures in 2026 to land between $115 billion and $135 billion, well above prior estimates. Total expenses are also set to rise sharply as the company pours money into AI infrastructure, data centers, and next-generation products.
Even so, Meta said it still expects operating income to grow year over year in 2026, suggesting management believes revenue growth will be strong enough to offset the heavier investment load.
AI payoff is the big question
Investors have grown more sensitive to Meta’s spending than to similar outlays at cloud giants, since Meta does not have a large enterprise cloud business to directly monetize AI infrastructure. That puts pressure on the company to prove its AI investments will translate into higher ad performance, new features, and ultimately more revenue.
For now, the market is giving Meta $META the benefit of the doubt, rewarding strong current performance while watching closely to see if its AI bets deliver long-term returns.