1 Prediction for Meta Platforms in 2026
Key Points
Meta continues to allocate massive sums on AI-related capital expenditures, occasionally raising its forecasts.
The business is very profitable, but investors should start to wonder if this spending will pay off.
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) beat Wall Street estimates when it recently reported revenue of $59.9 billion and diluted earnings per share of $8.88 for Q4 2025 (ended Dec. 31). Shares of the social media and digital ad leader are up 9% this year (as of Jan. 29). And they have climbed 372% in the past 36 months.
Here's one prediction for Meta Platforms in 2026.
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The spending will keep increasing
Throughout 2025, Meta consistently raised its forecast for full-year capital expenditures (capex). In January 2025, the leadership team predicted that the company would spend $60 billion to $65 billion on capex, mainly for data centers, servers, and chips to fuel artificial intelligence (AI) efforts, last year. Now that Meta just revealed its latest financials, we know the business ended up with a much higher $72 billion in capex.
Executives see capex surging to a range of $115 billion to $135 billion this year. I expect we'll see a similar dynamic play out throughout 2026, with this initial forecast being bumped up on occasion.
Based on recent trends, this looks like an easy prediction to make. Meta spent $28 billion on capex in 2023. It has risen significantly each year since.
Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going all-in on AI, with a goal to introduce personal superintellignece. The company is sparing no expense. While Meta is extremely profitable, collecting $44 billion in free cash flow in 2025, it's time for investors to be critical that all this spending will pay off.
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Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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