Meta shares fall after it raises the low end of its AI spending outlook

Meta shares fell more than 6% on Thursday morning, their sharpest intraday drop since late July, after the company lifted the bottom of its 2026 capital spending forecast to $135 billion to $145 billion, from $130 billion to $145 billion, and said it expects to keep investing aggressively in AI next year. Third-quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion and fourth-quarter guidance of $73 billion to $76 billion topped estimates, but capex hit $34.9 billion in the quarter and free cash flow turned negative at $2.12 billion. Meta also plans a new class of nonvoting stock that it could use to fund its AI push.