Meta's capex selloff (2022)
Meta reported falling profit while spending heavily on data centers and the metaverse. Investors revolted. The stock dropped about 25% in a single day and lost roughly two-thirds of its value over the year.
Meta cut tens of thousands of jobs and framed 2023 as a 'year of efficiency.' Spending discipline returned to the story.
The stock more than recovered as those same data centers powered its AI ad tools. Heavy spending was vindicated, but only after a brutal repricing.
It is the clearest recent case of the exact question facing the Mag 7 now: markets will fund huge AI spending, but only when they can see the payoff.
