Meta to Raise $95 Billion via New Shares for AI Infrastructure

Meta will raise a total of $95 billion in new equity to finance its expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure and superintelligence research. The company announced the plan on Monday, a move that sent its shares down 1.6 percent in morning trading.

The capital raise is split into two distinct components. Meta will first issue $35 billion through underwritten public equity offerings. It will then pursue an additional $60 billion using an at-the-market program. The company stated that Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom have expressed interest in purchasing up to $5 billion of these shares.

These funds will support specific projects, including the development of four new "superclusters." Each of these facilities will have a capacity of more than 1 gigawatt. Meta expects these additions to nearly double its total infrastructure capacity in 2026 compared to the previous year. The investments will also bolster its AI agent, Muse, and its family of applications.

The scale of this equity raise reflects the immense costs associated with the current AI buildout. Goldman Sachs projects that AI-related capital spending across the industry will reach approximately $7.6 trillion between 2026 and 2031. This period covers expenses for compute power, data centers, and electrical infrastructure.

Meta's financial outlook has shifted recently. Last week, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion, a 26 percent year-over-year increase. Analysts had projected revenue of $63.37 billion. Despite the top-line beat, investors reacted negatively to the company's negative free cash flow and an increased forecast for full-year capital expenditure.

Meta now expects its full-year capital expenditure to fall between $135 billion and $145 billion. This range marks an upward revision from the previous bottom of $130 billion. The adjustment contributed to the decline in the company's stock price on Thursday.

Ben Wood, a senior partner at CCS Insight, noted that the decision to issue more stock reflects the high levels of investment required in the AI sector. He observed that other major technology firms are also turning to the markets for capital. Alphabet previously announced plans to raise $85 billion, while SpaceX recently closed a $40 billion debt financing to purchase graphics processing units. Anthropic is currently preparing for an initial public offering.