S&P Global Ratings moved Meta Platforms’ credit outlook to negative on Oct. 30, pointing to uncertainty over the company’s investment plans and cash generation as its artificial intelligence buildout expands.
The action changes the outlook, not the company’s issuer rating. S&P’s public notice records an outlook revision; it does not announce a rating downgrade.
Meta’s latest quarterly results showed free cash flow of negative $2.12 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30. Revenue climbed 26% from a year earlier to $64.601 billion, while capital spending, including principal due on finance leases, reached $34.91 billion.
The company now expects 2026 capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion. That range lifts the lower end by $5 billion from its previous forecast and leaves the upper end unchanged. Meta said its AI investments are already contributing to advertising revenue, but it expects them to take longer to pay off than investments in its core business.
The rating action came as U.S. stocks fell Friday. The S&P 500 closed down 1.8% at 7,580.07, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% to 51,770.31, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.9% to 25,437.00, The Associated Press reported.
Bloomberg’s market wrap, republished by NDTV Profit, put the Nasdaq-100’s decline at 3.5% and said October was its worst month since March 2025. The report also said the S&P 500 fell below its 100-day moving average. The Nasdaq-100 and Nasdaq Composite are separate indexes, so their reported daily declines differ.
