Meta launches a $35bn stock sale and plans $60bn more to fund AI

Meta Platforms is raising money from the stock market to pay for its AI build-out. The company said on October 26 that it had launched underwritten offerings worth about $35 billion. It also said it plans a separate at-the-market programme of about $60 billion. Together that comes to roughly $95 billion of new equity.

How the deal is structured

The underwritten part has two pieces. About $22.5 billion is Class A common stock sold through forward sale agreements, which let Meta receive the cash later. The other roughly $12.5 billion is 250 million depositary shares, each representing a one-twentieth interest in a share of Series A mandatory convertible preferred stock. These are due to convert into common stock around August 15, 2029, and Meta has said they will trade under the symbol METAM.

The at-the-market programme would sell Class C shares gradually, and Meta says it will not start before the first quarter of 2027. No sales agreement is in place yet. Meta says Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom have indicated non-binding interest in buying up to $5 billion in total.

The spending behind it

Meta’s materials put 2026 capital expenditure at $135 billion to $145 billion. The company reported $97 billion of operating cash flow for the first three quarters and about $82 billion in cash. Third-quarter revenue was $64.6 billion, up 26%, and net income was $9.9 billion. Meta says it is building four superclusters, each above one gigawatt, and that its Muse product has passed 10 million users. CNBC reported the shares fell 1.6% in morning trading.

Why it matters (analysis)

Big tech has mostly paid for AI from cash flow and debt. A sale of new shares on this scale, plus chipmakers saying they might buy in, shows how far AI infrastructure costs have outgrown even very large operating budgets. It also links suppliers more closely to their biggest customer. Existing shareholders face dilution in exchange for faster capacity.

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This report is not legal, financial, or health advice. See the disclaimer.