Meta Q2: Selling Compute Sends Mixed Messages

Meta’s Q2 2026 did not pass baseline criteria for a Big Tech company with revenue guidance for Q3 missing analyst estimates, an operating margin contraction and the company is on the razor’s edge of becoming free cash flow negative. Despite revenue growing 28% YoY in the current quarter, Meta’s margins and cash came up short. Although selling compute is a noble effort to absorb some of the capex weakness, it also points to Meta’s core business not being able to sustain the company’s AI spend on its own. Meta framed this as a sign that AI capacity is tight, stating “we're getting a lot of offers for compute at a significant premium over what we paid for it." However, something doesn’t quite add up as Meta is selling compute yet also buying from third parties.