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Meta shares lag the S&P 500 as investors question AI spending
Meta stock is down 17.3% over the past year, while the S&P 500 is up 16.3%, and the company has lifted its 2026 capex outlook to $125 billion to $145 billion.
Meta Platforms has underperformed the broader market over the past year, with its shares falling 17.3% compared with a 16.3% rise in the S&P 500, according to Yahoo Finance.
The article attributes the cooling sentiment to Wall Street concerns about Meta’s AI spending. While Meta continues to deliver a resilient advertising business, investors have questioned whether rising AI investments will generate meaningful returns, especially amid uncertainty around monetization and progress in AI agents.
Meta has repeatedly increased its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, which has raised worries about free cash flow. The stock also faced additional pressure tied to antitrust and data privacy scrutiny.
Those concerns resurfaced on July 17, when Meta shares fell 3.1% during a broader sell-off in AI-related technology stocks. For 2026, analysts expect diluted EPS to decrease marginally to $29.51, and Meta has surpassed consensus earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters.
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