Investors are punishing the social media giant for raising its capital spending forecast, but the underlying business may tell a different story.

Meta stock plummeted on Thursday after the company upped its full-year AI spending forecast but struggled to clarify how it will monetize its investments in frontier models.

Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) are down roughly 8% to $614 in early trading on Thursday, April 30, after the social media giant paired a Q1 FY2026 earnings beat with a much bigger capital expenditure (CapEx) commitment for the year.

Meta's betting big on an AI future -- and paying for it today.

Meta stock fell 10% after a $145B AI capex outlook erased $175 billion in market value, prompting a JPMorgan downgrade.

Meta Platforms Inc. stock has delivered strong gains in 2026, leaving investors debating whether to buy more shares or lock in profits as the company bets heavily on artificial intelligence while its core advertising business continues to rebound.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta (NASDAQ: META) both recently dropped Q1 2026 results, and the earnings reports could not have framed two more different empires. Amazon is becoming the picks-and-shovels landlord of the AI era.

Stock Market Today: The Dow Jones index rose Thursday after key inflation data. Meta stock plunged on earnings.