Meta is expected to spend a bigger share of its revenue on capex than ever before

Meta has been pouring billions into data centers to power its AI ambitions — and investors, for now, are going along.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Meta’s third-quarter revenue, which it reports Wednesday, to jump 22% year over year to $49.5 billion. Meanwhile, its spending on property and equipment is projected to surge 123% to $18.4 billion, surpassing its anticipated net income of $17.1 billion.

That would push Meta’s capital expenditures to roughly 37% of revenue, up from about 20% a year earlier — its highest capex-to-sales ratio on record. And the spending spree shows no sign of slowing: Wall Street expects capex to approach $97 billion in 2026, while Meta has outlined plans to invest $600 billion in US data centers and infrastructure through 2028.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently told the “Access” podcast that “misspending a couple of hundred billion dollars,” while “very unfortunate,” would still be worth it to achieve superintelligence. “The risk, at least for a company like Meta, is probably in not being aggressive enough rather than being somewhat too aggressive,” he said.

This quarter, expect investors to press Meta harder on how and when those AI investments will pay off — and whether the company can keep funding its infrastructure race without eroding profitability.