Meta Platforms, Inc. (headquartered in Menlo Park, California, USA) saw its stock drop by more than 10% on Thursday, resulting in a loss of approximately $170 billion in market capitalization. This decline occurred despite the company reporting first-quarter earnings per share of $10.44 and revenue of $56.3 billion, both surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, excluding a one-time tax benefit of $8 billion, adjusted earnings would have been $7.31 per share, which tempered the positive earnings report. Investors expressed concern over Meta's increased capital expenditure forecast for 2026, which now ranges from $125 billion to $145 billion, up from a previous estimate of $115 billion to $135 billion. This increase is attributed to rising component costs and investments in data centers related to artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, while Meta's user base grew to 3.56 billion daily active users, slightly down from 3.58 billion, the company also announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs, approximately 10% of its workforce, to manage its rising costs.