Meta Shares Slide on Report of Massive AI Stock Sale
Meta shares fell more than 5% on Friday after CNBC reported that the Financial Times had published claims the social media giant was weighing a multibillion-dollar equity raise to bankroll its artificial intelligence ambitions.
Meta Stock Offering Rattles Investors
The potential stock offering, as described in the FT’s account relayed by CNBC, could run into the tens of billions of dollars. The move would mirror a decision by rival Alphabet earlier this week. Alphabet announced plans to raise $85 billion through an equity sale, lifting its original figure from $80 billion. That announcement has weighed on Alphabet’s shares, which have now fallen for four consecutive weeks. Investor concern over runaway AI expenditure appears to be spreading across the sector.
Meta itself pushed back on the story. A company spokesperson told CNBC the report amounted to “pure speculation.” The spokesperson added that Meta remained focused on accessing capital in flexible ways to pursue what it sees as transformative AI opportunities. The company has not engaged any banks for the process, and no final decision has been made, according to the FT’s reporting.
A Spending Race With No Ceiling in Sight
Both Meta and Alphabet have dramatically accelerated their capital expenditure plans throughout 2026. Meta lifted its full-year capex guidance in April to as much as $145 billion, up from a prior ceiling of $135 billion. Alphabet simultaneously pushed its own guidance ceiling to $190 billion, a $5 billion increase. The two companies are locked in a race to build out AI data center capacity fast enough to meet what their executives describe as surging demand.
Wall Street Has Treated the Two Very Differently
Despite shared ambitions, markets have rewarded Alphabet and punished Meta over the past year. Alphabet’s stock had surged more than 115% across the prior 12 months, leading all megacap peers. Meta, by contrast, shed roughly 13% over the same stretch, the weakest showing in that cohort. Analysts attribute the divergence largely to Alphabet’s profitable cloud division. That business provides a clearer earnings justification for heavy infrastructure investment. Meta’s AI spending lacks a comparable revenue engine to offset dilution fears from a large share sale.
Background: Big Tech’s AI Capital Hunger
The AI arms race has prompted the largest capital formation push in the tech industry since the dot-com era. Hyperscalers are competing not just on model quality but on raw compute capacity. Fresh equity issuance is increasingly seen as a tool to fund that expansion without exhausting existing balance sheets or taking on heavy debt loads.
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