Meta Posts Record Revenue, But AI Costs Drag Down Stock

Odaily reported that Meta Platforms (META.O) posted record second-quarter revenue, but the company's update on AI spending plans has sparked investor concerns over infrastructure construction costs. Meta slightly raised the lower end of its annual capital expenditure guidance from $125 billion to $130 billion, while keeping the upper limit unchanged at $145 billion. Its second-quarter revenue was $60.8 billion, up 28% year-over-year, but net profit was $15.8 billion, lower than analyst expectations. As a result, Meta's stock fell more than 6% in after-hours trading. In an effort to catch up in the AI race, Meta has invested tens of billions of dollars in chip procurement, data center construction, and top talent recruitment. Recently, it partnered with BlackRock to raise at least $12 billion to build a data center in Texas. Meta's second-quarter free cash flow was $784 million. (Jinshi)