# Meta Stock Sinks 9% as AI Spending Crushes Profit Despite Revenue Beat

*2026-07-31 06:03 UTC · Business · 1 min read*

> Meta beat revenue estimates but missed profit targets by a wide margin as AI infrastructure costs surged, sending shares down 9% and prompting a wave of analyst price-target cuts.

Meta Platforms shares dropped roughly 9% on July 30 after the company posted second-quarter earnings that beat revenue estimates but missed sharply on profit, as ballooning AI infrastructure costs squeezed the bottom line.

Revenue came in at $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and ahead of the $60.2 billion analysts expected. But diluted earnings per share of $6.18 fell well short of the roughly $7.14-$7.22 range Wall Street had modeled, as total costs and expenses jumped 55% to $42 billion, including $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance from May's layoffs. Free cash flow collapsed to $784 million from $8.55 billion a year earlier.

Meta also narrowed its 2026 capital-expenditure guidance to $130-$145 billion and issued third-quarter revenue guidance of $61-$64 billion, below the $63.15 billion Wall Street wanted. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company still has "nowhere near enough compute for all the demand," while at least ten analyst firms cut their price targets on the stock overnight, citing limited visibility into how Meta will turn its AI spending into profit beyond advertising.

## Sources

- [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/29/meta-q2-earnings-report-2026.html)
- [finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/meta-platforms-falls-9-soft-135217607.html)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2104-meta-stock-sinks-9-as-ai-spending-crushes-profit-despite-revenue-beat
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2177-akcie-mety-propadly-o-9-kvuli-vydajum-na-ai-ktere-rozdrtily-zisk-navzdory