Meta readies first euro bond sale amid AI spending push

Meta Platforms ↗ 0.83% is preparing a cross-border investment-grade bond offering. The deal would be its first debt sale outside the US dollar market, and it comes as investors question how fast big technology companies are spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, Bloomberg reported on Monday, Nov. 2.bloomberg.com

The company has asked Citigroup ↗ 0.53% and Morgan Stanley ↘ 0.53% to hold investor calls on Monday and Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person said Meta may sell US dollar bonds in five parts and euro notes in six parts, according to Bloomberg Law. The size of the offering has not been reported.news.bloomberglaw.com

A first step into euros

Meta laid the groundwork in September, when it met European credit investors for at least a week in a non-deal roadshow. It did not say when a sale might follow, Bloomberg reported at the time. The company last borrowed in April with a $25 billion, six-part dollar deal. A Form 8-K filing shows those notes mature between 2031 and 2066 and carry coupons of 4.55% to 6.45%. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley led that deal too.stocktitan.net+1

Demand cooled in April. Orders peaked at $96 billion, down from about $125 billion for Meta's $30 billion offering the previous October. Nearly all six tranches priced at wider risk premiums than the earlier deal, Bloomberg reported. S&P Global ↘ 0.98% said at the time that Meta's AI investment was "starting to affect credit metrics," according to Reuters.bloomberg.com+1

Spending outpaces cash flow

Meta's latest results help explain the push for more funding. In the third quarter, capital expenditures, including finance lease payments, reached $34.91 billion. The company narrowed its 2026 capex forecast to $135 billion to $145 billion, from $130 billion to $145 billion before, according to its earnings release. Free cash flow was negative $2.1 billion for the quarter, according to the earnings call transcript. Meta also announced plans for a new class of nonvoting shares to support future capital raising, Yahoo Finance reported.sec.gov+2

Hyperscalers flood debt markets

Meta is joining a busy stretch of borrowing by its peers. On the same Monday, Alphabet ↗ 0.78% launched a seven-part euro bond offering, Newsquawk reported. Days earlier, Microsoft ↘ 0.99% sold at least $25 billion of dollar bonds, its first bond sale since 2017. That deal drew more than $115 billion in orders, Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing Bloomberg.newsquawk.com+1

Taken together, these deals test how much more debt investors will take on from AI builders. Demand has stayed deep so far, but investors have pushed for higher pay to lend to Meta.