Meta Targets $95 Billion in Equity Financing to Expand AI Investment
Key Facts
Meta announced on October 26, 2026, a plan to raise up to $95 billion through equity financing, the largest fundraising of its kind in its history, according to Reuters. The plan starts with a public offering of common and preferred stock worth about $35 billion, alongside a separate at-the-market sales program that could be worth up to $60 billion. The company said the financing would support its investments in AI infrastructure and “personal superintelligence.” The scale of the plan puts data center and computing financing at the forefront of the company’s investment needs. The announcement does not mean the full amount will be raised immediately, as the larger sales program remains separate from the offering the company has launched.
Execution of the potential $60 billion program is tied to the start of trading in non-voting Class C shares, which the company expects in the first quarter of 2027. Meta has not yet finalized the timing or terms of the subsequent sales program, according to Reuters. That means the announced financing ceiling alone does not determine when the funds will come in or how they will be offered. The initial public offering combines common and preferred stock, with a total value of about $35 billion. The plan is therefore split between a phase for which the company has begun proceedings and another contingent on arrangements and timing that have yet to be finalized.
Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom have expressed combined interest of up to $5 billion in buying Class A shares under the plan, according to Reuters. This remains an expression of interest in buying, not a final commitment to complete the purchase, while the three companies are linked to the semiconductor supply chains needed for the expansion of computing capacity. The plan comes as Meta’s future investment commitments are estimated at about $825 billion, most of them focused on data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud computing capacity. This figure highlights the scale of the commitments the company is seeking to finance over time. It also places the proposed financing in the context of an expansion that extends beyond the current offering.
The announcement coincided with financial pressure tied to the pace of investment: Meta recorded negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion in the third quarter of 2026, compared with positive free cash flow of $10.63 billion in the same period a year earlier. Reuters said the third quarter was the first quarter in which the company had recorded negative free cash flow in more than a decade. Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, totaled $34.91 billion during the quarter, according to the earnings filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As of September 30, the company had $82.45 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, against long-term debt of $80.92 billion. These figures show heavy spending coinciding with cash resources and long-term debt of similar scale.
Still, the financing announcement followed strong operating results: Meta’s third-quarter revenue rose 26% year over year to $64.60 billion, from $51.24 billion a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion, according to the Associated Press. The company said in its filing, “Our investments are paying off, the core business is strong, and we are seeing momentum across the board.” It cited the launch of “Muse” and “Muse Wonder,” describing the models as its first two frontier models. In trading on October 26, the stock initially fell more than 2% before erasing its losses and rising 0.4%, according to the Associated Press. The reversal came during trading on the day the financing plan was announced.
Meta expects revenue of between $73 billion and $76 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026, and raised its capital expenditure forecast for the year to $135–145 billion, compared with a previous range beginning at $130 billion and ending at $145 billion, according to the Associated Press. The company said it expects to continue investing aggressively after 2026 to support its core business and emerging AI initiatives, allocating resources among model training, business growth and product development. On returns, William Blair analysts said they believe Meta will ultimately be able to build a profitable AI business, but the path to returns may not be linear. These forecasts place revenue growth and high capital spending alongside the new financing plans. The larger program is scheduled to be tied to the expected start of trading in Class C shares in the first quarter of 2027, with the company to announce its timing and terms once they are finalized.