Meta Drops 4.6% as AI Cloud Plans Hit Capacity Wall
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- Meta Platforms stock fell 4.6% Thursday, reversing most of its 8.8% Wednesday surge that followed reports of plans to sell excess AI computing power
- SoftBank announced SB Neo, a U.S. neocloud targeting hyperscalers, with plans to eventually deploy AI infrastructure on a 10-gigawatt scale
- Independent analyst Richard Windsor wrote that Meta has no spare capacity and has been unable to purchase the AI compute it needed from Google
- Meta plans to spend up to $145 billion on capital expenditure this year, and Freedom Capital's Paul Meeks argued it should stick to open models rather than build more data centers in places like North Dakota
- Meta's cloud pivot could complicate relationships with neocloud customers CoreWeave and Nebius, turning major partners into competitors
- Windsor singled out Anthropic as a customer Meta would need to divert internal superintelligence and AI-app capacity to serve
Why it matters: The 4.6% Thursday drop erased Meta's 8.8% Wednesday pop as analyst Richard Windsor concluded Meta lacks spare AI compute — selling it would mean sacrificing internal projects on top of its planned $145 billion capex. SoftBank's competing SB Neo launch, with 10-gigawatt ambitions, signals the neocloud market is filling with well-capitalized rivals before Meta can enter.
