Meta Reports Revenue Growth but Misses Earnings Estimates

Meta Platforms Inc. reported second-quarter financial results on July 29, 2026, showing a 28% revenue increase to $60.801 billion. This figure surpassed Wall Street expectations, which ranged from $60.22 billion to $60.3 billion. However, net profit fell to $15.848 billion and earnings per share were $6.18, missing the consensus estimate of $7.13. Following the announcement, the company's stock price dropped $7.80 to $585.61.

The earnings release followed the company's longest historical losing streak, a nine-day stock decline driven by investor anxiety over artificial intelligence capital expenditures. Investors feared that spending for 2026 and 2027 would exceed the current $125 billion to $145 billion annual range, mirroring a previous sell-off of Alphabet Inc. after that company warned of increased spending.

To monetize its AI infrastructure and offset costs, Meta has partnered with BlackRock to develop a $14 billion data center in El Paso. The company is also in early discussions to lease $10 billion of AI computing capacity to Anthropic. CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously indicated that offering cloud computing services is a possibility. For the next quarter, Meta provided revenue guidance between $61 billion and $64 billion.