Zuckerberg told investors the AI strategy is paying off, saying, "Our investments are paying off, the core business is strong, and we're seeing velocity across the board." Backing that up, Meta now pegs 2026 capital spending at 135 billion to 145 billion dollars, lifting the bottom end from 130 billion.
Meta also unveiled a new class of nonvoting stock to be issued to current holders as a stock dividend. Shareholders will receive one new nonvoting share for every existing share - effectively a two-for-one split - and the company expects the new class to start trading in January. The shares are intended for capital raising, employee compensation and potential acquisitions, and Meta said the structure would ensure Zuckerberg continues to lead the company "into the next era."
Zuckerberg highlighted traction from Muse, noting more than 10 million people in the US and Canada used the assistant in its first six weeks. "Now that Muse has clear product market fit, we are entering a new phase and a more operational phase that is focused on scaling it," he said. Launched in September, Muse is built to handle everyday tasks like shopping, buying movie tickets and setting appointments. The hitch: Muse consumes heavy computing power, which Meta cited as a reason it has not rolled it out globally yet.
Earlier this month, Meta introduced Muse Wonder, a new AI model with "frontier capabilities." Leadership said it is competitive with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude for coding and for tackling financial or legal questions. Should independent evaluations confirm those assertions and Muse Wonder catch on with academic and industry builders, that would represent a significant reversal from last year's lukewarm reception in Silicon Valley.
Meta plans to make money through business transaction charges, subscription tiers aimed at power users and people seeking entry to the most advanced models, plus premium workplace tools for firms that depend on Muse. As Zuckerberg put it, "If compute efficiency continues improving quickly for another few years, which we think is highly likely, then Muse will be highly profitable over multiple years."
Meta guided fourth quarter revenue to 73 billion to 76 billion dollars, topping the 73.6 billion dollar analyst average tracked by Bloomberg. Third quarter revenue rose 26 percent to 64.6 billion dollars, beating the 63.3 billion dollar estimate, and earnings were 3.83 dollars per share versus the 3.57 dollar projection.
The capex ramp has room to run. Even though the midpoint of Meta's capital expenditures outlook for this year is 140 billion dollars, the company has only spent about 86 billion dollars through the first nine months. Over the last 18 months, Zuckerberg shifted the company hard toward AI, committing hundreds of billions to build infrastructure and overhauling its AI group under head Alexandr Wang.
When companies reshape their strategies, staying informed matters, so sign up for the free Market Briefs newsletter today
According to Zuckerberg, CJ Desai is taking the helm of Meta's new enterprise platform - the initiative the company is developing to offer its models and AI services to customers. The initial scoop on this nascent cloud push came from Bloomberg News.
Headcount is down 15 percent year over year. Meta projects that Reality Labs could lose up to 19 billion dollars this year, easing to roughly 15 billion dollars in 2027 as funding shifts toward other priorities, chiefly AI. Advertising remains the core revenue engine across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Meta previously tried a share-class change in 2017 but dropped the plan. At that time Facebook's valuation was roughly 500 billion dollars; today Meta's market value is nearly 1.8 trillion dollars.
The stock rose more than 2 percent after hours on Wednesday and is up about 6 percent for the year through the New York close. The setup also frames next week's read on AI spend and returns when Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon report.
In plain English: Meta is tying bigger AI checks to visible product progress, adding a nonvoting share class to help finance the push, and signaling patience on returns outside ads. Watch the 2026 capex range of 135 billion to 145 billion dollars, momentum around Muse and Muse Wonder, and the glide path of Reality Labs losses toward roughly 15 billion dollars in 2027.
Because small shifts in corporate plans can alter perspectives, get quick context each morning with the free Market Briefs
