Meta is turning its artificial intelligence ambitions into a capital spending shockwave, lifting its investment plans even as profits surge. The company is tying a sharp jump in annual capex to a long-term push toward what executives describe as “superintelligence,” and investors are rewarding the bet with a fresh rally in the stock. The move signals that the next phase of Big Tech competition will be decided not just by clever models, but by who is willing to write the biggest checks for infrastructure.
Blowout quarter gives Meta room to spend
Meta’s decision to dramatically increase investment is rooted in a business that is throwing off more cash than at any point in its history. In its latest quarter, the company reported revenue of $59.9 billion, up 24% year over year, with operating income of $24.7 billion and EPS of $8.88. I see those numbers as more than a beat; they are a permission slip from the market to lean harder into long-term AI bets without immediately sacrificing credibility on profitability.
The guidance for the start of this year underscores how confident management is that the core machine is humming. For the first quarter, Meta is projecting revenue in a range that starts at $53 billion, a figure that sits roughly four billion dollars above what many on Wall Street had penciled in, according to separate Meta commentary. That kind of top line momentum, driven by a resilient advertising engine highlighted in a detailed Jan breakdown, is what allows Meta to argue that it can both fund an AI arms race and keep rewarding shareholders.
Capex explodes on “superintelligence” ambition
The headline shift is in capital expenditure, where Meta is effectively redrawing the map for what it costs to compete in frontier AI. On Wednesday the company said it expects its capital expenditure for 2026 to be between $115 billion and $135 billion, a range that would have been unthinkable for a social media company only a few years ago. Management has tied that surge directly to a push for “superintelligence,” a term that in Meta’s usage refers to building AI systems powerful enough to act as deeply personalized assistants across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and future devices, a strategy echoed in a separate Meta analysis.
One detailed breakdown describes Meta ramping up its capital expenditure by 73% to support this buildout, a figure that captures just how far the company is willing to stretch its balance sheet to stay in the AI race. On a conference call summarized by Jaspreet Singh, executives framed the spending as a multi-year infrastructure program that will fund data centers, custom silicon and the talent needed to train ever larger models. I read that as Meta trying to close any perceived gap with rivals in foundation models while also ensuring that its own apps, not just third-party platforms, become the default interface for everyday AI use.
Expenses soar, but investors cheer the AI story
The capex spike feeds directly into a broader reset of Meta’s cost base. The company has forecast that total expenses in 2026 will land between $162 billion and $169 billion, up sharply from $117.69 billion a year earlier. That kind of step change would normally trigger anxiety about margin compression, yet the stock reaction has been positive, with Meta shares jumping as investors digested the AI roadmap. One widely cited note on the quarter even framed a single “Massive Number From” as the figure every investor needs to track, underscoring how central the spending trajectory has become to the valuation debate.
Part of the reason the market is giving Meta the benefit of the doubt is that management has been explicit about the link between spending and product transformation. In a detailed interview captured by Meta coverage, Mark Zuckerberg said the company will “dramatically change” with AI and laid out plans to spend as much as $135 billion on AI build-out in 2026. When I connect that message with the expense guidance, I see a deliberate attempt to reframe Meta not as a maturing ad platform, but as a capital-intensive AI infrastructure company whose near-term margin sacrifice is the price of long-term dominance.
Wall Street leans in as forecasts reset higher
Analysts, for now, appear to be siding with that narrative. One aggregated META snapshot shows a consensus view built from 45 Wall Street voices, with Meta Platforms still rated as a buy despite the spending surge. A separate Meta Platforms Stock notes that the Stock Price Forecast from Meta Platforms coverage by 42 analysts still implies the shares can significantly outperform the broader market. I interpret that as a sign that, at least for now, the Street views the AI capex as offensive investment rather than defensive catch-up.
Investors are also digesting the spending in the context of a stock that has already re-rated sharply. According to Meta Platforms Inc data, the NASDAQ listing recently closed at 668.73, down 4.24 points or 0.63% on the day, within a 52 week range of 479.80 to 796.25, with the Day High and Close figures underscoring how much optimism is already priced in. For anyone tracking the stock through tools like Google Finance, the question is whether the AI narrative can keep justifying that premium as the bills for data centers and chips come due.
From earnings “massive number” to long-term AI moat
Behind the headline figures, Meta is trying to persuade investors that its AI spending will translate into a durable moat rather than a one-off splurge. A widely circulated breakdown of the quarter highlighted a “Massive Number From” in the latest Earnings Report Every to See, with the Key Points centering on how the midpoint of management’s guidance implies years of elevated investment. A parallel Massive Number From analysis reached a similar conclusion, arguing that the net result of this guidance is to lock in a future where Meta’s AI infrastructure spending becomes a defining feature of the business model rather than a temporary spike.
From my perspective, the strategic bet is that these billions will manifest as AI-native experiences that keep users inside Meta’s ecosystem longer and make ads more effective. That logic is already visible in how the company talks about recommendation engines on Reels and AI assistants inside WhatsApp, and it is reinforced by the way Daniel Howley summarized Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about AI reshaping Meta’s products. If the company can convert its planned $135 billion AI build-out into products that feel indispensable, the current capex shock may look, in hindsight, less like extravagance and more like table stakes for the age of superintelligence.
