Meta considers billions in equity raise after Alphabet's $85B capital call
In brief
- Meta exploring potential equity raise worth tens of billions of dollars
- Alphabet completed record $85 billion capital raise in June 2026
- Meta's 2026 capex budget revised upward to $125–$145 billion
- Meta shares dropped 5–7% on June 5 after equity raise report
The AI cost spiral
Meta's capital expenditure budget for 2026 has ballooned to between $125 billion and $145 billion, up from an earlier forecast of $115 billion to $135 billion — a $10 billion revision in just weeks. This acceleration reflects the mounting infrastructure demands of generative AI development. Neither company has signaled cryptocurrency involvement in their equity strategies; these are traditional capital raises aimed at funding data centers and compute clusters.
Alphabet's $85 billion raise, which closed in early June 2026, was initially targeted at $80 billion but got upsized due to oversubscription. The deal included a $10 billion private placement to Berkshire Hathaway. Class A shares were priced at roughly $351.81 and Class C shares at approximately $348.20. That $85 billion figure makes it the largest corporate equity capital raise in history.
Market reaction and shareholder concerns
Meta shares dropped 5–7% on June 5, 2026, after the report surfaced. The immediate concern for existing Meta shareholders is dilution. The stock decline reflects that anxiety directly.
No banks have been hired yet, and the plans could change. Meta's move, if it proceeds, would signal that even the largest tech companies now view massive equity raises as a necessary cost of competing in AI infrastructure. The precedent Alphabet set in June may reshape how the industry finances its computational ambitions.
