Markets
Meta Fell 3.7% for a Third Straight Loss, 7% Below Tuesday's Close, Five Days Before Earnings
Meta Platforms dropped 3.72% to $709.33 on October 16 after touching $738.49 in the morning. The stock has lost 6.97% since Tuesday's close of $762.50 as analysts argue over how much it will spend on AI in 2027. Third-quarter results are due October 21 after the close.
Meta opened near Thursday's close, traded as high as $738.49 and then spent the afternoon falling, to a low of $702.71 and a close of $709.33, down 3.72%. It was the third consecutive decline since the stock closed at $762.50 on October 13, a drop of 6.97% in three sessions that took back most of the previous week's gains. The shares are still about 4% above where they were in mid-September.
The disagreement is about 2027. Guggenheim expects Meta's capital spending to reach about $225 billion that year, according to Invezz, which also reported that one bank cut its price target this week citing cost pressure while UBS and Guggenheim raised theirs; all kept Buy ratings. The split is not about whether Meta's advertising business is growing but about whether the market will pay for the data centres that growth is supposed to fund.
The rest of the group fell with it. Alphabet lost 2.47%, Microsoft 1.93% and Amazon 1.87%; Apple, up 0.43% and 2.03% for the week, was the only mega-cap technology stock to rise on Friday. Netflix, which reports on Monday evening, fell 2.86% to $70.53, and Tesla, which reports alongside Meta on Wednesday, lost 2.13% to $354.72, 7.31% lower on the week.
Meta's own bonds are part of the story this week, even if its shares are not trading on them. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Oracle have together issued more than $228 billion of bonds this year, according to LSEG data cited by CNBC, and the week's sell-off in CoreWeave started with the price of that kind of debt. A company with Meta's cash flow is not CoreWeave, but the market's willingness to fund AI spending with borrowed money is the variable that changed, and the October 21 call is the first chance to hear whether the spending plan changes with it.
For the stock, a 7% fall into a report lowers the bar: the same capex number that would have hurt at $762 may pass at $709. The risk runs the other way too. Netflix, three evenings earlier, will show how this market treats a company that beats and guides cautiously, and Tesla's call starts an hour after Meta's.