Meta Platforms Reports Negative Free Cash Flow Amid Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
Meta Platforms reported a significant shift in its financial profile during the third quarter, posting negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion—the first time this has occurred since 2012. While revenue grew by 25% year-over-year to $64.6 billion, driven by strong ad pricing and impressions, operating income fell by 37%. This compression is primarily due to a massive surge in capital expenditures as the company aggressively builds out AI compute capacity. The company's transition from a capital-light model to a capital-intensive hyperscaler is evidenced by an 80% year-over-year increase in capex, totaling $34.9 billion for the quarter. With future commitments reaching $825 billion and long-term debt rising significantly to fund this build-out, analysts anticipate continued negative free cash flow through 2026 and 2027 before a potential recovery in 2028.
Topics: Artificial Intelligence Investment Capital Expenditures Free Cash Flow Operating Margin Revenue Growth
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Part of the story Meta Reports Q3 2026 Revenue Growth Amid Legal Settlement and Massive AI Infrastructure Investment (16 articles)