Investors are selling Meta as it heads to its earnings report

Meta stock has declined for nine straight days, its longest losing streak ever, ahead of its second-quarter earnings report after the close. Investors are selling amid concerns over Meta's capital expenditures, with Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black projecting capex could rise to $210-$215 billion in 2027 and $265 billion in 2028, fueling debate over returns from generative AI investments.

The market isn't hiding its feelings about Meta META https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/META/ as it heads to its earnings report after the close today. Investors are selling first and asking questions later. Meta stock has now declined for nine straight days, the longest losing streak in its history. The steady march lower has sent Meta shares below all key technical moving averages, per Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace https://finance.yahoo.com/about/promos/gold/alphaspace?100003557 data. When Meta META https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/META/ reports its second quarter earnings, all eyes will be on its capital expenditures plan for the rest of the year and in 2027. This area of Meta's cash flow statement garners the most attention — not just because Alphabet GOOGL https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOGL/ spooked its investor base last week https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/why-are-investors-freaking-out-about-big-techs-booming-ai-capex-123000998.html by warning it intends to spend way more than expected but also because Meta's stock price has been dead money for more than a year as seen above . The lagging performance coincides with Meta's massive increases in annual capital expenditures. "Capex remains a key debate on the stock ," Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black wrote in a note ahead of the earnings report. Signs that generative AI is leading to additional monetization on Instagram and Facebook have so far been muted. The debate will likely continue if some of Black's jaw-dropping capex projections come to fruition. In fact, the chorus for Meta to rein in its spending may only grow louder. This embedded content is not available in your region. "Prior to Alphabet recently raising FY26 capex guide, we think there were limited expectations for Meta to increase its current 2026 guidance of $125-$145 billion," Black wrote. "However, now, it is likely investors fear an increase in FY26 outlook likely may be coming." He added that buy-side expectations for 2027 capex have been raised to "low-to-mid $200bn range we raise our estimate to ~$210-$215 billion in 2027 and ~$265 billion in 2028 . The headline investment is significant, although the directly funded amount could be lower." "More importantly, a third-party cloud business would add a direct revenue stream against assets that investors currently value largely through indirect benefits to ads and engagement," he said. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor, host of the ' Power Players With Brian Sozzi' podcast and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi , Instagram , and LinkedIn . Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance