Meta Platforms Expands AI Data Centers with BlackRock Venture and $125-$145 Billion 2026 Capex Plan

Corporate ActionIndustry Impact 4
โดย Zacks Investment Research·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Meta Platforms is substantially expanding its data center footprint to support advanced AI model training and global inference services, including a venture with BlackRock to develop a 1-gigawatt campus in El Paso expected to begin bringing capacity online in 2028 and a separate 1-gigawatt facility in Alberta. The company expects 2026 capital expenditures of $125-$145 billion, which includes additional data center costs for future capacity, and is also securing third-party cloud capacity coming online through 2026 and 2027. These investments are expected to ease compute constraints and enhance core advertising, where first-quarter 2026 ad impressions rose 19% year over year and average price per ad increased 12%, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter advertising revenues at $59.035 billion, indicating 26.8% growth. Meta faces stiff competition from Alphabet, which is using its Gemini AI to improve ad relevance and capture performance spending, and from Amazon, whose advertising revenues grew to more than $70 billion in trailing-12-month revenues after a 24% jump to $17.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Meta shares have dropped 10.1% year to date, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector, and the stock trades at a forward 12-month price-to-sales of 5.32 times versus the industry's 3.81 times, with a Zacks Rank of 3, or Hold.

Impact on stocks 4

Artificial Intelligence± Mixed · 3 stocks
Meta Platforms Inc.
META
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

Meta announces massive $125-$145 billion 2026 capex plan and data center expansion to support AI and ad growth.

Amazon.com Inc
AMZN
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Meta's AI-driven ad improvements and growth pose competitive threat to Amazon's advertising business.

Alphabet Inc Class C
GOOG
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Meta's AI ad enhancements and strong ad growth intensify competition with Alphabet's Gemini-powered ad business.

Digital Finance & Tokenization▲ · 1 stocks
BlackRock Inc
BLK
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

BlackRock is partnering with Meta to develop a 1-gigawatt data center campus, representing a large infrastructure investment opportunity.

Theme Impact 11

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