Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) shares dropped as much as 10.4% on Wednesday following the company’s Q2 2026 earnings report.
Revenue beat expectations, but investors focused on shrinking profits and a challenging cash flow picture
Big revenue, bigger expenses The Instagram and Facebook parent posted $60.8 billion of Q2 revenue, a 28% year-over-year increase and near the top of management’s guidance. The ad business remains strong, with impressions up 14% and average price per ad up 12%. But earnings fell 13% to $6.18 per share.
Free cash flow was just $784 million, down from $12.4 billion in the previous quarter and $8.5 billion in Q2 2025. The culprit, of course, was massive spending on data centers. Meta posted $31 billion of capital expenditures in a single quarter.