Meta plans $95 billion stock raise as AI spending pressures cash flow
The fundraising comes after the company reported a $2.12 billion cash burn in the third quarter and lifted the lower end of its annual capital expenditure forecast.
Meta Platforms plans to raise up to $95 billion through equity offerings to help finance its costly expansion of data centers, computing capacity and other artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The company on Monday launched public offerings totaling about $35 billion in common stock and convertible preferred stock. It also plans to introduce a separate at-the-market share sale program of up to $60 billion after its new non-voting Class C shares begin trading, which is expected in the first quarter of 2027.
Meta has stepped up spending on data centers, computing capacity and AI products as it competes with rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic.
The social media company had $82.45 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of September 30, slightly more than its $80.92 billion in long-term debt, according to its quarterly filing last week.
Meta has committed to about $825 billion in future spending, primarily driven by growing investments in data centers, AI infrastructure and cloud computing capacity.
Chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom have expressed interest in purchasing up to $5 billion of Meta's Class A common stock in the offering, the company said.
Last week, Meta raised the lower end of its annual capital expenditure forecast, saying it now expects spending of between $135 billion and $145 billion this year, compared with its previous forecast of $130 billion to $145 billion.
The company reported a cash burn of $2.12 billion in the third quarter, marking its first negative free cash flow in more than a decade. That compared with positive free cash flow of $10.63 billion a year earlier.
Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion, ahead of Wall Street expectations of $63.37 billion. It forecast fourth-quarter revenue of between $73 billion and $76 billion.
