Meta's capital spending jumped to US$69.7bn
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The story behind it
Meta says its AI has caught up with the leaders, and its shares rose 3.38% Read the edition →Meta on the calendar
Next results: date to come. It goes on the calendar as soon as Meta announces it. Economic calendar →
The story behind it
Meta says its AI has caught up with the leaders, and its shares rose 3.38% Read the edition →Meta on the calendar
Next results: date to come. It goes on the calendar as soon as Meta announces it. Economic calendar →What the chart shows
Meta released two AI models on Monday, Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, and Mark Zuckerberg told the Financial Times the company has caught up with its competitors. Investors liked the claim, and the shares rose.
Getting there shows up in the filings. Meta's purchases of property and equipment were US$4.5 billion in 2016 and US$31.2 billion in 2022, dipped to US$27.0 billion in 2023, then climbed to US$37.3 billion in 2024 and US$69.7 billion in 2025. Revenue rose from US$27.6 billion to US$201.0 billion across the same stretch.
For 2026, Meta expects to spend between US$130 billion and US$145 billion, mostly on AI computing. Its own benchmarks say the models are good; what customers will pay for them is the test that spending now has to pass.
The numbers
Revenue (columns) and capital spending (line), calendar years 2016 to 2025, US$bn on one scale. Meta expects to spend US$130bn to US$145bn in 2026.
| US$bn | Capital spending | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 27.6 | 4.5 |
| 2017 | 40.7 | 6.7 |
| 2018 | 55.8 | 13.9 |
| 2019 | 70.7 | 15.1 |
| 2020 | 86.0 | 15.2 |
| 2021 | 117.9 | 18.7 |
| 2022 | 116.6 | 31.2 |
| 2023 | 134.9 | 27.0 |
| 2024 | 164.5 | 37.3 |
| 2025 | 201.0 | 69.7 |
How we make these charts: one chart a day from a story in the edition, drawn from the figures the story names and checked against the sources named on the chart before it is published. General information only, not financial advice.
