The new Class C common stock, which revives a structure Meta abandoned in 2017 following a shareholder lawsuit, takes effect Jan. 19, 2027, and will list on Nasdaq. Shareholders will receive one Class C share for each Class A or Class B share they hold, acting as a 2-for-1 stock split while giving Meta a nonvoting currency for AI investments, acquisitions and employee compensation, though the CFO said the company has no specific financing plans to announce right now.
The cost warning and share-class details followed third-quarter results in which revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, beating the $63.33 billion consensus estimate, and adjusted earnings of $7.40 a share topped the $5.89 estimate after excluding a $9.89 billion legal settlement charge with 52 US state attorneys general. Capital expenditures climbed 80% year over year to $34.91 billion, pushing quarterly free cash flow to negative $2.12 billion for the first time since 2012, as Meta raised the bottom end of its 2026 capex forecast to a range of $135 billion to $145 billion and projected 2026 Reality Labs losses of $18 billion to $19 billion while declining to provide a 2027 revenue outlook.