# Meta’s disappointing revenue forecast puts AI spending under the microscope > Source: > Published: 2026-07-29 20:25:55+00:00 Via supercarblondie.com # Meta’s disappointing revenue forecast puts AI spending under the microscope The company beat Q2 revenue estimates but missed on earnings by a wide margin as its AI capex budget balloons to as much as $145 billion. Meta just delivered the corporate equivalent of a mixed report card. Revenue came in above expectations, advertising is humming along, and the core business looks healthy. But the company’s earnings per share missed by nearly a dollar, and investors are starting to wonder whether Meta’s AI spending spree has an off switch. The social media giant reported Q2 2026 revenue of $60.8 billion, edging past analyst estimates of roughly $60.2 billion. That sounds great in isolation. The problem is everything else on the income statement. ## The numbers behind the nerves Meta’s earnings per share landed at $6.18 for the quarter ending in late July. Wall Street had penciled in $7.14. That’s not a small miss. It’s the kind of gap that makes analysts start typing “margin compression” in bold. The culprit is familiar by now: capital expenditure. Meta raised its 2026 capex guidance to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, up from previous projections. To put that in perspective, $145 billion is more than the entire GDP of Hungary. And it’s being funneled almost entirely into AI infrastructure, from data centers to custom chips to the compute power needed to train increasingly massive models. Advertising revenue, which remains the engine of Meta’s business, actually performed well. The segment pulled in $59.3 billion against expectations of $59.07 billion. So the demand side of the equation looks fine. It’s the cost side that’s giving investors heartburn. The company’s prior guidance had set Q2 revenue expectations at $58 billion to $61 billion, so the actual result fell comfortably within that window. But when your revenue beats and your earnings still miss by 13%, the market draws its own conclusions about where the money is going. ## The AI spending paradox Meta’s stock faced downward pressure heading into the earnings report, reflecting broader market anxiety about Big Tech’s collective AI spending binge. Meta’s capex figure stands out for its sheer scale relative to the company’s revenue base. The gap between revenue growth and earnings growth tells a specific story. Meta is generating more money from advertisers than ever before, but the operational costs of its AI ambitions are growing faster. ## What this means for markets On the advertising front, the news is actually reassuring. With $59.3 billion in ad revenue beating estimates, there’s no sign that the digital ads market is softening. Investors should pay close attention to how quickly Meta can demonstrate tangible revenue from its AI investments in coming quarters. If AI-driven ad targeting improvements, new product features, or efficiency gains start showing up in the numbers, the current spending concerns will look like noise. If they don’t, that $125 to $145 billion capex figure will start looking less like an investment and more like a very expensive science experiment. **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our [Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).