Here are three metrics investors should watch to gauge whether Meta Platforms’ AI spending is paying off. <\/p>\n
Meta’s 3.64 billion daily active users lay the foundation for one of the world’s most powerful ecosystems. The business has the attention of 44% of the world’s population. This setup enables the company to generate substantial digital advertising revenue<\/a>. That’s the first metric to keep tabs on. <\/p>\n So far, AI capabilities are driving better engagement. On the other hand, AI capabilities are helping advertisers run better, higher-return campaigns. <\/p>\n This is showing up in the numbers, although it’s impossible to know how much is directly attributable to AI enhancements compared to the trajectory Meta Platforms was already on before this technology penetrated the economy. Ad revenue climbed 25.9% year over year last quarter. That gain was supported by a 10% and 14% growth in impressions and pricing, respectively. <\/p>\n Zuckerberg previously said that if the business delivers on its AI ambitions, advertising will represent a larger share of global GDP. Monetizing social media activity will remain the crown jewel operation. And AI must directly impact the company’s ad platform. <\/p>\n 2. New products and services <\/p>\n On Sept. 8, Meta Platforms launched its Muse AI agent<\/a>. It has been a huge hit so far. It counted 10 million users in the U.S. and Canada a month and a half after its release. Perhaps more noteworthy is that 25% of these people use it daily. <\/p>\n Unlike other hyperscalers with massive cloud computing platforms, Meta historically hasn’t had an immediate distribution channel to monetize its AI investments. Besides the ad ecosystem mentioned, the company is working on entirely new products and services designed with AI in mind from the start. <\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n The Muse personal agent is one example. Another significant recent launch is Muse Wonder, Meta Platforms’ first frontier model. There’s also the Meta Enterprise Platform, which offers AI tools to corporate clients. <\/p>\n The question going forward is about monetization. Will these new products and services contribute meaningful revenue within the next five or 10 years? Investors should be watching this closely to gauge the success of Meta Platforms’ sizable AI spending. <\/p>\n 3. Operating cash flow <\/p>\n Because the company is investing so much in AI, it’s critical not to just look at the income statement. I noted that Meta Platforms posted a FCF loss of $2.1 billion in the most recent quarter. This metric focuses attention on the cash flow statement. To get a clearer picture of the true economics, investors need to look here. <\/p>\n Watch operating cash flow (OCF) trends closely. Through the first nine months of 2026, this figure was up 21.7% year over year. In a vacuum, this is a strong gain. <\/p>\n However, it lagged the 72% growth in capex over the same period. Meta Platforms’ spending is rising at a faster clip than OCF. As long as this continues, it will continue to burn cash. <\/p>\n The ideal scenario is that OCF eventually outpaces capex, supporting a return to positive FCF. But this might be far off, as the business just announced a plan to raise almost $100 billion in equity capital to fund the AI build-out. Investors will have to be patient for the payoff. <\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Meta Platforms right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this: <\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Meta Platforms wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. <\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $334,793!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,257,420!* <\/p>\n Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 874% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 209% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. <\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of October 31, 2026. <\/p>\n Neil Patel<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/a> Image source: The Motley Fool. 1. Advertising revenue <\/p>\n