Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META, the technology company operating Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, rebounded approximately 1.9% in Friday's regular session after Amazon's (AMZN) cloud results improved sentiment toward large AI infrastructure programs. Meta had fallen sharply following its own results as investors assessed higher capital expenditure and weaker free cash flow. Amazon's contrasting rally suggested markets may accept elevated spending when it is accompanied by accelerating cloud revenue.
Meta reported second-quarter revenue of approximately $60.8 billion, representing 28% growth. However, earnings of $6.18 per share were pressured by legal and severance expenses, while free cash flow declined to $784 million from $8.55 billion one year earlier. The company narrowed its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to between $130 billion and $145 billion. Management said Meta remained demand-constrained because insufficient computing capacity prevented it from pursuing additional opportunities expected to produce positive returns.
The $137.5 billion midpoint of Meta's capital-spending range is substantially below Amazon's revised $220 billion plan, but Meta lacks a comparable cloud-computing business that directly sells infrastructure capacity to external customers. That difference may explain why investors have demanded clearer evidence of AI monetization through advertising, business agents and other products. Friday's rebound recovered only a limited portion of Meta's post-earnings loss. Investors may now focus on advertising growth, free-cash-flow recovery and whether the company can translate its expanding computing capacity into revenue outside its established advertising operation.