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META Rides on AI-Optimized Data Centers: What Lies Ahead for the Stock?
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Key Takeaways
META plans $115B-$135B in 2026 capex to boost AI infrastructure and core operations.
Meta Platforms unveiled a $1B Tulsa data center focused on sustainability and job creation.
META signed a $6B Corning deal and eyes growth in subscriptions, commerce and AI services.
Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) has been spending aggressively on servers, data centers, and network infrastructure to support the training and deployment of advanced AI models. In the fourth quarter of 2025, capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $22.1 billion. META now expects 2026 capital expenditures to be between $115 billion and $135 billion to support core business and AI efforts.
Meta’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. The company recently announced a $1 billion AI-optimized data center in Tulsa. The center is expected to create more than 1,000 construction jobs and around 100 permanent positions. It will also improve local infrastructure and workforce development. The project focuses on sustainability with water-efficient cooling, clean energy matching, and community investments. These investments include partnerships in education and programs for utility assistance.
Further expanding its portfolio, in January 2026, Meta Platforms announced a multi-year agreement with Corning worth $6 billion under which the latter will supply fiber optic cables for its data centers.
Meta Platforms' focus on AI-optimized data centers positions it to unlock new business opportunities beyond advertising, including subscriptions, commerce and licensing cloud models. This is expected to benefit the company’s top-line growth. In the first quarter of 2026, the company expects total revenues between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion.
META Faces Tough Competition in the AI-Data Center Space
Meta Platforms is facing tough competition from the likes of Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . Both Microsoft and Amazon are expanding their footprints in the AI-data center space.
In March 2026, Microsoft announced the opening of its new datacenter region in Denmark, aimed at strengthening digital resilience, driving innovation and supporting economic growth across the region.
Amazon’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. In March 2026, Amazon announced an increase in its investment in Spain to €33.7 billion, its largest-ever technology investment in the country, to expand data center infrastructure and drive AI innovation across Europe.
META’s Share Price Performance, Valuation, and Estimates
META’s shares have gained 1.3% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s return of 6%.
META Stock's Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
META shares are overvalued, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 6.4X compared with the Internet - Software’s 3.98X. META has a Value Score of C.
META's Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $29.83 per share, which has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. This suggests 26.99% year-over-year growth.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
META Rides on AI-Optimized Data Centers: What Lies Ahead for the Stock?
Key Takeaways
Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) has been spending aggressively on servers, data centers, and network infrastructure to support the training and deployment of advanced AI models. In the fourth quarter of 2025, capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $22.1 billion. META now expects 2026 capital expenditures to be between $115 billion and $135 billion to support core business and AI efforts.
Meta’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. The company recently announced a $1 billion AI-optimized data center in Tulsa. The center is expected to create more than 1,000 construction jobs and around 100 permanent positions. It will also improve local infrastructure and workforce development. The project focuses on sustainability with water-efficient cooling, clean energy matching, and community investments. These investments include partnerships in education and programs for utility assistance.
Further expanding its portfolio, in January 2026, Meta Platforms announced a multi-year agreement with Corning worth $6 billion under which the latter will supply fiber optic cables for its data centers.
Meta Platforms' focus on AI-optimized data centers positions it to unlock new business opportunities beyond advertising, including subscriptions, commerce and licensing cloud models. This is expected to benefit the company’s top-line growth. In the first quarter of 2026, the company expects total revenues between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion.
META Faces Tough Competition in the AI-Data Center Space
Meta Platforms is facing tough competition from the likes of Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . Both Microsoft and Amazon are expanding their footprints in the AI-data center space.
In March 2026, Microsoft announced the opening of its new datacenter region in Denmark, aimed at strengthening digital resilience, driving innovation and supporting economic growth across the region.
Amazon’s expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. In March 2026, Amazon announced an increase in its investment in Spain to €33.7 billion, its largest-ever technology investment in the country, to expand data center infrastructure and drive AI innovation across Europe.
META’s Share Price Performance, Valuation, and Estimates
META’s shares have gained 1.3% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s return of 6%.
META Stock's Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
META shares are overvalued, with a forward 12-month Price/Sales of 6.4X compared with the Internet - Software’s 3.98X. META has a Value Score of C.
META's Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $29.83 per share, which has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. This suggests 26.99% year-over-year growth.
Meta Platforms, Inc. Price and Consensus
Meta Platforms, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Meta Platforms, Inc. Quote
Meta Platforms currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.