×

BREAKINGVIEWS-Meta’s fall shows punters crave clearer AI payoff

By Thomson Reuters Apr 30, 2026 | 10:56 AM

By Karen Kwok

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Shares fell 10% despite strong revenue growth and signs ​technology is boosting ad ‌sales. The issue is funding: unlike Alphabet, Amazon or Microsoft, there’s no cloud arm to cushion infrastructure spending. A rapidly rising ‌bet ​with an unclear, slow payoff ⁠makes investors queasy.

Full ⁠view will be published shortly.

Follow Karen Kwok on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Meta Platforms raised its annual capital spending ​forecast when it reported first quarter results on April 29. The ⁠company now projects ⁠2026 capital expenditure to be ​between $125 billion and $145 billion, compared with ​its prior forecast of $115 billion to $135 ‌billion.

Meta reported first-quarter revenue of $56.3 billion, beating the LSEG-compiled analysts’ average estimate of $55.5 billion.

Separately, Alphabet also raised this ⁠year’s capital expenditure forecast when it reported quarterly earnings on the same date. The ⁠search giant ‌now expects to spend ⁠between $180 billion and $190 billion, a $5 ​billion ‌increase from the company’s estimate ​last ⁠quarter. Alphabet said it plans another significant increase in 2027.

Shares of Meta dropped 10% in early trading on April 30.

(Editing by Robert Cyran; Production by ​Pranav Kiran)