Should investors be concerned about Meta Platforms’ stock<\/a>? <\/p>\n Image source: The Motley Fool. <\/p>\n What is off-balance-sheet debt? <\/p>\n Publicly traded companies are required to report the amount of debt they are incurring. But under accounting rules, equipment such as graphics processing units and servers that are under long-term contracts but not yet delivered is treated as an off-balance-sheet item. Meta and other companies disclose future debt in annotations on their financial statements. <\/p>\n When Meta’s GPUs are delivered and the data centers become operational, this hidden debt will begin to appear on the quarterly balance sheet. <\/p>\n Meta is one of five companies — the others being Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle — analyzed in the Nikkei Asia report. The five companies, all of which are making significant investments in AI infrastructure, have a collective $1.65 trillion in debt that is not reflected on the companies’ balance sheets. <\/p>\n Meta is accelerating its spending on AI <\/p>\n Meta Platforms shows no appetite to slow its spending. The company spent $72 billion on capital expenditures in 2025 — most of it related to AI — and said in its first-quarter report that it would spend between $125 billion and $145 billion this year. <\/p>\n Its $50 billion Hyperion data center planned for Louisiana is getting a lot of attention. The center was first announced as a $27 billion project funded by Meta’s joint venture with Blue Owl Capital. But in June, Meta announced it was expanding the project from a 2-gigawatt center to 5 gigawatts of capacity as it seeks to build out enough AI infrastructure to meet demand. <\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n Blue Owl and its partners are funding the construction, allowing the project to remain off Meta’s balance sheet. Blue Owl will own 80% of Hyperion, with Meta owning the remaining 20%. <\/p>\n Should investors be concerned about Meta’s debt? <\/p>\n On the one hand, $420 billion is a big number. There are only 30 companies in the world with an entire valuation of more than $420 billion, so when Meta takes on that much debt that hasn’t even made it to its balance sheet yet, it can seem pretty scary. <\/p>\n Meta is making huge, long-term commitments based on the idea that AI demand will justify the infrastructure. It appears to be transitioning its business away from the so-called metaverse <\/a>toward hyperscaler services. That means investors should be prepared for lower margins, perhaps as early as when the company reports second-quarter earnings after the market closes on July 29. <\/p>\n Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney recently told CNBC that he doubts that Meta will attempt to compete head-to-head with Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet — the three largest hyperscalers by market share. Instead, he sees Meta attempting to challenge neocloud providers such as CoreWeave and Nebius Group in offering AI-specific computing products, including AI chips and systems. <\/p>\n Either way, I expect Meta to shed more light on the picture when it reports earnings next week. <\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Meta Platforms right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in\u00a0Meta Platforms, consider this: <\/p>\n The Motley Fool\u00a0Stock Advisor\u00a0analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a>\u00a0for investors to buy now\u2026 and\u00a0Meta Platforms\u00a0wasn’t one of them.\u00a0The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. <\/p>\n Consider when\u00a0Netflix\u00a0made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you’d have $370,332!*\u00a0Or\u00a0when\u00a0Nvidia\u00a0made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you’d have $1,272,280!* <\/p>\n That performance is why people listen. With a track record of\u00a0beating the S&P 500 by 4x,\u00a0Stock Advisor\u00a0offers a distinct advantage. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. <\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of July 22, 2026. <\/p>\n Patrick Sanders<\/a> has positions in Nebius Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/a> <\/p>\n