Meta Platforms said it expects 2026 capital expenditures (capex) of $115 billion to $135 billion as it ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and related efforts. The company also reported fourth-quarter results that beat analyst expectations and projected first-quarter revenue of $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion.
The new capex range marks a sharp increase from the $72.22 billion Meta spent on capital expenditures in 2025, underscoring how aggressively the company plans to invest in compute, data centers, and other AI capacity. After the update, Meta shares rose about 10% in extended trading, according to reports covering the earnings release.
Capex and expenses surge in 2026 outlook
Meta said its 2026 capex guidance reflects increased investment to support its Superintelligence Labs efforts and its core business. Alongside the capex outlook, Meta projected total expenses of $162 billion to $169 billion in 2026.
The spending ramp is tied largely to infrastructure costs, including third-party cloud spend, higher depreciation tied to AI data center assets, and higher infrastructure operating expenses. The Financial Times also reported that Meta’s projected 2026 capex could reach as high as $135 billion and described the company as San Francisco-based.
Q4 results top expectations
For the fourth quarter of 2025, Meta reported earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88 and revenue of about $59.9 billion, topping analyst expectations cited in coverage of the results. Tom’s Guide reported the quarter’s revenue at $59.9 billion and said it was up 24% year over year.
Meta’s ad business remained the main driver of results, and The Economic Times reported advertising revenue of $58.14 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $46.78 billion a year earlier. The Economic Times also said costs and expenses rose 40%, outpacing total revenue growth of 24% and contributing to a drop in operating margin.
Reality Labs remains a drag
Meta’s Reality Labs unit continued to lose money, according to reports summarizing the results. Yahoo Finance reported Reality Labs revenue of $955 million and losses of about $6 billion for the quarter.
What Meta said about “superintelligence”
Meta framed its higher spending as part of a push toward “superintelligence,” described in coverage as a goal focused on deeply personalized artificial intelligence for its large social media user base. On the earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “This is going to be a big year for delivering personal superintelligence, accelerating our business infrastructure for the future and shaping how our company will work going forward.”
The company also signaled that capacity limitations could remain an issue as it builds out infrastructure, with The Economic Times reporting that CFO Susan Li said Meta will face capacity constraints through much of 2026. Investing.com similarly reported that Meta expects most of its 2026 expense growth to come from infrastructure costs, including cloud spending and higher infrastructure operating expenses.
