Cites significant uncertainty around social media giant’s capital spending, free operating cash flow

S&P revises Meta outlook to ‘negative’

BENGALURU:

S&P Global Ratings on Friday revised its outlook on Meta Platforms to “negative” from “stable”, citing significant uncertainty around the social media giant’s capital spending and free operating cash flow.

Big Tech has spent heavily on cloud computing, online advertising and e-commerce, but the AI boom has pushed capital expenditure to dizzying levels, stoking investor concerns about whether the sector can generate returns quickly enough. Last week, Meta forecast annual capital expenditure between $135 billion-$145 billion after reporting a free cash flow deficit of $2.12 billion in Q3.