Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Q2 ’26 Earnings First Take

Research evidence excerpt

Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Q2 ’26 Earnings First Take

Equity Research

29 July 2026 | 4:34PM EDT

Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Q2 ‘26 Earnings First Take

We expect investors to have an initial negative reaction to META’s Q2 ’26 earnings Eric Sheridan

+1(917)343-8683 |

report on the back of roughly inline Q2 revenue trends (especially when measured eric.sheridan@gs.com

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

against investor expectations), a Q3 revenue guidance range inline with our current

Alex Vegliante, CFA

estimates at the high end & a narrowing of the 2026 capex range from $125-145b to +1(212)934-1878 |

$130-145b. In addition, the company raised the low end of its prior FY26 total GAAP alex.vegliante@gs.comGoldman Sachs & Co. LLC

expense guidance to $165-169bn (from $162-169bn prior) to reflect a one-time Aarshiya Sachdeva

charge of $2.4bn related to legal proceedings taken in Q2. In total, and ahead of the +1(212)855-6184aarshiya.sachdeva@gs.com|

upcoming earnings call, these reported and guided figures will be interpreted by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Huanginvestors as a solid indicator of the application of AI compute to the company’s core Emma | +1(212)902-7229

business but not quite the outsized positive returns that had been expected in recent emma.huang@gs.com Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

weeks. On the earnings call, we think how the mgmt team addresses a series of

public commentary from the last several weeks will be critical to laying the

foundation for a linear narrative around a few key themes: 1) rate of change and

duration of elevated capex; 2) any offsetting restructuring efforts in terms of opex

(supportive of EPS growth); 3) the current view on the company’s profitability levels,

free cash flow generation and the need for capital (either debt or equity) in support