Meta Platforms’ shares tumbled over 10% on Thursday, as investor skepticism over its massive artificial intelligence (AI) spending overshadowed its strong quarterly earnings. The company raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $70–$72 billion, up from its previous $66–$72 billion range, as it competes to build advanced AI tools.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the aggressive investment strategy, saying early signs of returns in Meta’s core business give confidence to expand further. He added that Meta is “aggressively building capacity” to prepare for the coming wave of superintelligence, which could redefine major industries.

Meta’s heavy AI investments follow similar moves by tech rivals. Alphabet raised its capex outlook to $91–$93 billion, and Microsoft also signaled higher spending this fiscal year. Earlier, Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI and recruited its CEO Alexandr Wang to co-lead its new Superintelligence Labs with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.

For the third quarter, Meta posted adjusted earnings of $7.25 per share on $51.24 billion revenue, exceeding Wall Street expectations. Revenue jumped 26% year-over-year, though the company took a $15.93 billion tax charge linked to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act.