Meta Earnings Recap: Stock Drops 6% As Capex Expected to IncreaseNEWS | 30 April 2026The company delivered a beat for the first quarter, with revenue of $56.3 billion that topped Wall Street estimates, and earnings per share of $10.44 that handily surpassed expectations.
Meta's earnings delivered a familiar message to investors: Expect capex spending to balloon to new heights as the company sprints full tilt in the AI race.
But the stock tumbled 6% after hours following the results as the company disclosed it was raising its full-year guidance for capital expenditures by $10 billion to $125 to $145 billion for 2026.
"This reflects our expectations for higher component pricing this year and, to a lesser extent, additional data center costs to support future year capacity," CFO Susan Li said in Meta's release.
"Our experience so far has been that we have continued to underestimate our compute needs," the CFO said later in a call with analysts.
Meta's daily active users were up year over year but down from the most recent quarter, which the company blamed on disrupted internet access in Iran and WhatsApp restrictions in Russia.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Muse Spark, Meta's first model from Alexandr Wang's team, "our biggest milestone" so far this year. The company has seen double-digit increases in Meta AI sessions per user since the launch.
Discussing Meta's looming 10% layoffs planned for later in May, CFO Li said the reductions will help the company move "more quickly" and offset investments. "I think, over time, we don't really know what the optimal size of the company will be in the future," she added.
Elsewhere on the analyst call, Zuckerberg said he's "not against" building AI coding tools, but "it's not our primary focus."
Scroll on for the play-by-play of Meta's earnings release and analyst call:Author: Markets Reporter. Every Time. Look Out For An Alert In Your Inbox The Next Time. More Stories. Meta Reporter. Source
