EL7.AI
StocksMedium•22 October 2026•
3 min read

Meta shares fall 7.4% as company narrows spending outlook, expands AI financing options

Key Facts

1Meta shares fell 7.4% during trading on October 22 despite revenue beating analysts' expectations.
2Meta narrowed its annual capital spending forecast to $135–145 billion from $130–145 billion.
3Quarterly capital spending reached $34.9 billion, up 80% from $19.4 billion a year earlier.
4Quarterly revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion, compared with $51.24 billion a year earlier.
5Meta raised net proceeds of $24.91 billion from a bond issue in May 2026.

Meta shares fell 7.4% during trading on Thursday, October 22, 2026, despite the company reporting quarterly revenue that beat analysts' expectations, according to a market update published by the Associated Press. The decline followed third-quarter results in which revenue rose 26% year on year. Revenue reached $64.60 billion, compared with $51.24 billion in the third quarter of 2025, according to the agency. Alongside the results, the company narrowed its 2026 capital spending forecast to $135–145 billion. Its previous forecast put spending at $130–145 billion, raising the lower end while leaving the upper end unchanged. The developments also included board approval of a new capital-raising instrument to finance investments in AI infrastructure.

Meta's actual capital expenditure was about $34.9 billion in the third quarter of 2026, according to a report published by Investing.com. That represented an 80% increase from the same period a year earlier. The company spent $19.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025, according to the report. Capital spending therefore grew faster than the quarterly revenue growth reported by the Associated Press. The financing instrument approved by the board is, in the agency's description, "a new class of publicly traded non-voting common stock." The shares are Class C, and approval to create them is part of efforts to expand Meta's capacity to raise capital for AI infrastructure investments.

Meta had already tapped the bond market that year, raising net proceeds of $24.91 billion in May 2026. The company reported those proceeds in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing described the securities issued as "fixed-rate senior unsecured notes," with that move preceding approval to create the new share class. In other company trading covered in the news, Vertiv shares fell 1.2% the previous Tuesday, according to a report published by Investing.com on October 21. That decline extended the stock's losing streak to 11 consecutive trading sessions. Vertiv's run of declines was therefore already under way before Thursday's trading, when Meta shares fell.

The next earnings announcements are due on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, when Vertiv plans to report third-quarter results, according to a statement from the company's investor relations department. The company scheduled the release before the market opens that day. The announcement will cover its performance in the third quarter of 2026, following the stock's consecutive losses in earlier trading. On the same day, GE Vernova plans to hold its quarterly earnings webcast, according to the events calendar published on its investor relations website. The company scheduled the webcast to begin at 7:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. The webcast will cover third-quarter 2026 results, putting both companies' quarterly disclosures on October 28.