Meta Platforms raised $25 billion through a six-part investment-grade bond sale, one day after lifting its 2026 capital expenditure forecast by $10 billion to a new range of $125 billion to $145 billion, reports Bloomberg.
Orders came in at $96 billion, nearly four times the amount on offer. Yet, Meta shares fell as much as 9.5% on the same day, as equity investors pushed back on a spending trajectory that the company’s own CEO could not fully explain.
Meta is not alone in this dynamic. Amazon raised nearly $54 billion in bond markets last month. Alphabet priced $32 billion in dollar and euro notes in February. Oracle raised $25 billion in a sale that attracted a record $129 billion in orders.
Collectively, the four largest hyperscalers are now expected to spend up to $725 billion on AI infrastructure this year. The debt markets have absorbed roughly $300 billion of AI-linked issuance so far, but the terms are shifting.
Meta’s Thursday pricing came in above the risk premiums from its October deal, a signal that bond buyers are beginning to charge more for the uncertainty embedded in these bets.
The company also raised approximately $30 billion through off-balance-sheet financing linked to a special purpose vehicle associated with Blue Owl Capital. Together, the two mechanisms represent over $55 billion in new financing tied to Meta’s AI buildout in the past six months alone.
Inside Meta, the spending acceleration is being paired with cuts elsewhere. The metaverse division has been scaled back after burning through billions with limited commercial return. Workforce reductions of 20% or more are being prepared, with a first round of roughly half that number expected on May 20.
