Meta shares rose nearly 40% since late July and over 20% since its Muse AI assistant launched Sept. 8, lifting its valuation close to $2 trillion. It expects 2026 capital spending of $130 billion to $145 billion; Q2 operating margin fell to 31% from 43% a year earlier.
In Q2, Meta's ad impressions rose 14% year over year and average ad prices rose 12%. The company attributed part of the price increase to better ad-targeting and measurement tools. Muse recorded 2.8 million downloads in its first 12 days, according to Apptopia data cited by Reuters; Jefferies estimated it could generate $10.8 billion in annualized revenue by 2027 in an optimistic adoption scenario.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said AI investment is improving user experience and advertiser performance; he also said 3.6 billion people use at least one Meta app daily, giving the company a large audience for new AI products. The article says AI spending is weighing on cash flow, with no clear timeline for returns, and notes competition from Google, Claude and OpenAI in consumer AI.
