Ted Thatcher says the market is struggling to find firm footing as we go through the largest technological buildout in human history. Markets have to digest the huge price tags, he continues, but the Street has reason to question that spend.
Opening statements began in a trial claiming social media companies design addictive products that cause personal injury.
Shares of Meta Platforms ( NASDAQ:META ) surged 10.4% on January 29, 2026, the day after the company announced plans to spend up to $135 billion on capital expenditures in 2026.
European competition regulators say Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant policy violates antitrust regulations. The European Commission (EC) announced Monday (Feb. 9) that it sent a statement of objections to the tech giant, stating the watchdog's “preliminary view” that Meta breached EU antitrust rules by preventing third-party AI assistants from accessing WhatsApp.
The EU executive on Monday told Meta to give rival chatbots access to WhatsApp after an antitrust probe found the US giant to be in breach of the bloc's competition rules.
A top Meta researcher warned executives that there could be as many as 500,000 cases of online sexual exploitation per day on Facebook and Instagram, according to unsealed documents that surfaced on the eve of a landmark jury trial in New Mexico state court.
Meta Platforms on Monday criticised EU regulators after they charged the U.S. tech giant with breaching antitrust rules and threaten to halt its block on AI rivals on its messaging service WhatsApp.
EU competition regulators on Monday charged Meta Platforms with breaching antitrust rules by blocking artificial intelligence rivals from its messaging service WhatsApp and threatened to impose interim measures against the U.S. tech giant.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said that cuts to the company's VR efforts were "a real loss." Bosworth said Meta was still "bullish" on VR, but that the company's investment had to "match the size of growth.
Rowan Street's 2025 Year-End Portfolio Review
Meta Platforms remains a top pick, rated Buy, driven by robust ad revenue and strong Family of Apps performance. Heavy CapEx in AI and infrastructure is expected to fuel future margin expansion and earnings growth despite near-term free cash flow pressure. Reality Labs losses are likely peaking, with future upside tied to smart glasses and mixed-reality product adoption.
Meta Platforms achieved 7% YoY growth in daily active users, reaching 3.58 billion in Q4 FY25. Ad impressions surged 18% YoY, driven by AI-powered ad redistribution using the Lattice and GEM models. Instagram Reels U.S. watch time soared 30% YoY, benefiting from advanced sequence learning and deeper interaction histories.