S&P cuts Meta outlook to negative over elevated capex and cash flow risks

[Meta European headquarters] Derick Hudson S&P Global Ratings lowered its outlook on Meta Platforms (META [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/META]) to “negative” from “stable,” citing uncertainty surrounding the company’s capital expenditure and free operating cash flow. "Given ​the lack of clarity around the company's future capex and its very ambitious multi-year AI investment ​plans, we are less certain that it will curtail its spending as previously anticipated," S&P said. “This dramatic increase in the company's leverage, from about 0.1x in 2025, primarily stems from its strategy of leasing data center capacity (including its mega-data center projects Beignet and Sopaipilla) rather than from issuing debt.