Every earnings season has a moment where a CEO says something that cuts through the noise. Not a guidance range or a revenue beat. Something that reframes how investors are supposed to think about the company. Meta's Q2 call on July 29 had one of those moments, and it didn't come from the income statement.
The numbers themselves were rough. Earnings per share dropped 13% year over year to $6.18, missing Wall Street's $7.10 consensus by nearly a dollar. Free cash flow fell almost 91% to just $784 million, down from $8.55 billion a year earlier. Capital expenditure hit $31.1 billion in the quarter alone, nearly double what Meta spent in the same period last year. The stock fell roughly 8% to 10% in after-hours trading. The company had already slid 21% since July 15. None of that was new information by the time Zuckerberg opened his mouth on the call.
What Zuckerberg said on that call is what investors who have been selling need to sit with.
Meta has been building AI infrastructure at a pace that has alarmed some investors. Capital expenditures hit $31.1 billion in just the second quarter, nearly double what Meta spent in the same quarter a year earlier. The company has guided to $130 billion to $145 billion in full-year 2026 capex, more than double the $72 billion it spent in 2025. The question everyone has been asking is whether any of that spending will ever pay back, according to Fortune.
More Mark Zuckerberg:
#call #nearly #quarter
The numbers themselves were rough. Earnings per share dropped 13% year over year to $6.18, missing Wall Street's $7.10 consensus by nearly a dollar. Free cash flow fell almost 91% to just $784 million, down from $8.55 billion a year earlier. Capital expenditure hit $31.1 billion in the quarter alone, nearly double what Meta spent in the same period last year. The stock fell roughly 8% to 10% in after-hours trading. The company had already slid 21% since July 15. None of that was new information by the time Zuckerberg opened his mouth on the call.
What Zuckerberg said on that call is what investors who have been selling need to sit with.
Meta has been building AI infrastructure at a pace that has alarmed some investors. Capital expenditures hit $31.1 billion in just the second quarter, nearly double what Meta spent in the same quarter a year earlier. The company has guided to $130 billion to $145 billion in full-year 2026 capex, more than double the $72 billion it spent in 2025. The question everyone has been asking is whether any of that spending will ever pay back, according to Fortune.
More Mark Zuckerberg:
#call #nearly #quarter
3 months ago
