Meta CFO Susan Li Says Company May Tap External Financing For 2026 AI Infrastructure As CapEx Heads Toward $100 Billion
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) may look to outside partners to help finance its ballooning infrastructure investments in 2026, as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence and data centers.
Meta Eyes Financial Partners Amid Soaring AI Costs
During the company's second-quarter 2025 earnings call, CFO Susan Li addressed questions around how Meta plans to fund what could exceed $100 billion in capital expenditures next year.
"We certainly expect that we will finance some large share of that ourselves," Li said. "But we’re also exploring ways to work with financial partners to co-develop data centers."
Li noted that while Meta has not finalized any transactions, the company sees an opportunity in attracting external capital to support large-scale infrastructure.
"We generally believe that there will be models here that will attract significant external financing… while providing us with flexibility should our infrastructure requirements change over time," she added.
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Alphabet, Microsoft Also In Infrastructure Race
Meta is one of several tech giants racing to scale AI infrastructure globally. It posted second-quarter revenue of $47.52 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $44.58 billion.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which reported earnings last week, has also raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to around $85 billion, citing "strong and growing demand" for its cloud products and services.
On Wednesday, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported fourth-quarter earnings and projected $30 billion in capital expenditures for the current fiscal first quarter, driven by surging sales in its Azure cloud segment.
Data Center Demand Set To Explode
A global surge in data center construction is underway to meet the soaring computing demands of AI leaders like Meta, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Goldman Sachs projects global data center demand will grow 50% by 2027, rising from 62 GW to 92 GW, largely driven by AI workloads, which are expected to account for 28% of usage by then.
By 2030, data center power demand could climb 165%, making the sector one of the world’s top 10 electricity consumers.
Price Action: Meta shares dipped 0.68% on Wednesday but surged 11.49% in after-hours trading, reaching $775.10, per Benzinga Pro.
According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, META maintains strong upward momentum across short, medium and long-term timeframes. Additional performance insights are available here.
Photo Courtesy: Skorzewiak on Shutterstock.com
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