Meta’s $6 Billion Infrastructure Bet Precedes Earnings Release

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As investors await Meta's quarterly results, the company has unveiled a substantial supply agreement. The social media and technology giant will pay up to $6 billion to fiber optic specialist Corning to equip its artificial intelligence data centers with optical cables through 2030. This move comes as a landmark trial concerning social media addiction opens in Los Angeles, and Wall Street questions whether advertising revenue can sustain Meta's soaring capital expenditures.

Meta is concurrently navigating two significant legal battles. Jury selection began on January 27, 2026, in Los Angeles for a case focused on the alleged addictiveness of Instagram and Facebook for younger users. Plaintiffs accuse Meta of deliberately engineering algorithms to maximize screen time at the expense of children's mental health. While TikTok settled shortly before trial, Meta and Google are proceeding to court.

Simultaneously, antitrust scrutiny persists. Although a court ruled in Meta's favor in November 2025, rejecting a forced breakup of Instagram and WhatsApp, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a formal appeal on January 20, 2026. The immediate threat of a corporate dissolution has been averted, but regulatory uncertainty continues to loom.

Street Expectations and Stock Performance

Consensus estimates project Q4 2025 revenue of approximately $58.45 billion, representing year-over-year growth of about 21%. Earnings per share are forecast at $8.21. Meta's stock has climbed more than 10% over the last five trading sessions, signaling strong market anticipation for a robust report. Merely meeting expectations, however, may not be sufficient to extend the current rally. The primary focus will be the company's 2026 outlook and whether its core advertising business can finance enormous AI investments.

Decoding the Corning Agreement and Capex Trajectory

The Corning deal secures Meta's supply chain for the fiber optic cables required by its rapidly expanding AI data center fleet. In response, Corning will scale up production capacity at its North Carolina facilities. The market reacted immediately: Corning shares advanced roughly 16%, while Meta's stock stabilized around the $673 mark.

For shareholders, the agreement presents a mixed picture. It underscores the aggressive pace at which CEO Mark Zuckerberg is positioning the company in the AI race. Yet, it also reinforces a persistent concern on Wall Street: relentlessly rising capital investment. Expenditures for 2025 were already guided between $70 and $72 billion. Analysts now predict a jump to $153-$160 billion for 2026, driven by Nvidia chips, fiber infrastructure, and the ongoing losses in the Reality Labs division, which burns over $4 billion per quarter.

Post-Market Clarity Awaited

Despite these pressures, analyst sentiment remains largely optimistic. Bank of America recently reaffirmed its Buy rating with an $810 price target, citing resilient advertising demand and AI integration efforts. Whether Meta's shares can chart a course to new highs now hinges entirely on the guidance Zuckerberg provides after today's market close. If he can demonstrate a clear path where multi-billion dollar investments translate directly into revenue growth, the equity may retain significant upside potential.