Meta will sell up to $95 billion of new stock to pay for its AI buildout, the company announced Monday, and its share price slipped 1.6% in morning trading. CNBC reported that the sale comes in two steps. Underwritten public offerings will bring in $35 billion first, followed by $60 billion through an at-the-market program, where a company sells shares gradually into the open market.
The buyers are part of the story. Meta’s statement says three chip suppliers (Broadcom, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices) have shown interest in taking shares worth up to $5 billion. All three sell the chips and networking gear that Meta’s data centers run on. A supplier that owns a slice of its biggest customer has a reason to keep that customer spending, which is worth remembering the next time one of them reports a big order.
Meta says the money will back “emerging AI opportunities”: its apps, an AI agent called Muse, and the company’s data center unit. Equity is only one source. The company also plans to draw on cash from operations, borrowing at investment grade, and partnerships.
The scale makes sense against Meta’s own forecast. Last week it reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion, up 26% from a year earlier and above the $63.37 billion forecast by analysts. Investors still sold the stock, because free cash flow was negative and the company lifted its full-year capital spending range to $135 billion to $145 billion, from a floor of $130 billion. A $95 billion raise equals roughly two-thirds of the midpoint of that range. The business is growing quickly and still cannot cover what it is building out of its own earnings.
What is being built is large. Meta said it is putting up four “superclusters,” each larger than 1 gigawatt, and expects total infrastructure capacity to nearly double in 2026.
Meta is not alone in reaching for outside money. Ben Wood of the research firm CCS Insight told CNBC the raise “reflects the eye-watering levels of investment required to keep up in the AI arms race.” CNBC names the companies he means: Alphabet said it would seek $85 billion in June, SpaceX finished a $40 billion borrowing round to buy GPUs, and Anthropic is preparing an initial public offering. Goldman Sachs puts the industry-wide bill at about $7.6 trillion between 2026 and 2031, covering power, chips, and buildings.
Meta has not said when the first $35 billion will price, or how many shares that means, so existing holders cannot yet size their dilution. That figure will decide whether the market treats this as a one-time bridge or the opening of a longer series of raises. Anyone competing with Meta for chips or power should assume one of the biggest buyers of hardware just found a way to keep buying.
Reported by CNBC on 26 October 2026.
