The Canada Brief

Economy · 12 d ago

Meta Platforms headquarters, Menlo Park, California

Meta and other AI stocks tumble as investors question the cost of the AI buildout

Meta shares, Thursday

8 % drop

Meta fell eight per cent on Thursday, its biggest drop since July, after it said it would sell a new class of non-voting shares to fund AI spending.

New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street

Arild Vågen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nvidia dropped four per cent, and Lam Research fell 10 per cent after its results. The Nasdaq was on track for its largest decline in four months.

What we know

  • Meta spending forecast: US$135B to US$145B
  • Third-quarter free cash flow was negative

Not yet

  • When AI spending will pay off

Meta raised the low end of its yearly spending forecast to US$135 billion and reported its first cash burn in more than a decade.

And us?

Why it matters in Canada

The Toronto Stock Exchange was down close to one per cent on Friday as the AI worries carried over.