MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – Meta Platforms said on Monday it plans to raise a total of US$95 billion through stock sales to fund its investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and superintelligence. The company will first raise $35 billion through underwritten public equity offerings. It will then raise a further $60 billion through an at-the-market program. Meta shares fell 1.6% in morning trading after the announcement. Semafor reported that the plan marks the company’s first issuance of new stock since 2013.
Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom have expressed interest in buying up to $5 billion of Meta’s shares, the company said. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are leading the underwritten offerings. The $35 billion tranche includes $22.5 billion of Class A common stock sold through forward sale agreements. It also includes $12.5 billion of mandatory convertible preferred depositary shares. Meta plans to start the at-the-market program in the first quarter of 2027 using newly created Class C shares.
Meta said the investments will support emerging AI opportunities, including its family of apps, its AI agent Muse and its data centre business. It plans to fund them through a mix of operating cash flow, investment-grade debt, partnerships and equity capital. The company is building four superclusters, each with more than 1 gigawatt of capacity. It is on track to nearly double its total infrastructure capacity in 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Capex forecast rises after third-quarter results
Meta reported third-quarter results last week showing revenue up 26% year on year to $64.60 billion. Analysts had expected $63.37 billion. The result beat Wall Street forecasts by more than $1.2 billion. Investors focused instead on the company’s negative free cash flow and its higher capital spending forecast. Free cash flow came in at about negative $2.1 billion, while quarterly capital expenditures reached about $34.9 billion. Meta shares fell on Thursday after the release.
The company now expects full-year capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion. That raises the bottom of its previous range from $130 billion. Meta is among the major hyperscalers increasingly tapping debt and equity markets to pay for the infrastructure behind the AI investment boom. Goldman Sachs estimates AI-related capital spending could total about $7.6 trillion from 2026 through 2031. That figure covers compute, data centres and power.
Tech giants race to raise capital for AI
Ben Wood, senior partner at CCS Insight, told CNBC the raise reflects the huge investment needed to keep pace in the AI arms race. He said Meta’s offering comes as several companies, including Google, SpaceX and soon Anthropic, turn to markets for funding. Google parent Alphabet said in June it would seek to raise $85 billion. SpaceX has closed a $40 billion debt financing to buy graphics processing units.
Anthropic is preparing for an initial public offering, adding to the wave of AI-related fundraising. TikTok U.S. is also seeking to secure multiple gigawatts of computing capacity over the coming years, CNBC reported on Friday. Meta’s convertible preferred shares are set to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker METAM. They will convert into common stock around August 15, 2029. The Class A forward sales are due to settle by November 19, 2027.