New York, February 19, 2026, 17:15 EST — After-hours
Meta Platforms (META.O) ticked 0.3% higher to $644.78 in after-hours trade Thursday, with investors digesting new AI infrastructure updates along with word that the Facebook parent is bringing back a smartwatch initiative.
The tick size change isn’t really the story—the bigger signal is what it says about spending patterns. Meta is wedged between two market battles: who’s still pouring money into compute, and who’s managing to squeeze profit from it.
The rapid pace of big tech’s AI spending now ripples through chip stocks and even energy markets. Traders want to see whether all that data center money is doing more than just powering servers—revenue needs to ramp up quickly, or margins could feel the squeeze.
Nvidia announced a sweeping partnership with Meta this week, one that stretches across several years and technology generations, covering everything from on-premises to cloud to AI infrastructure. According to Nvidia, Meta plans to roll out hyperscale data centers to handle both AI model training and inference—essentially, building the models and running them for user applications. The deal will see Meta installing millions of Nvidia’s Blackwell and Rubin GPUs, in addition to Grace CPUs and Spectrum‑X Ethernet networking.
Meta, for its part, said in a separate statement that the partnership targets a boost in “performance per watt,” or squeezing more computing out of every bit of power used. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang didn’t mince words: “no one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” he said. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief, pointed to plans for “leading-edge clusters” built on Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform. About Facebook
According to Reuters, Nvidia kept quiet on how much the contract is worth. The deal covers central processors—direct rivals to Intel’s and Advanced Micro Devices’ offerings. Reuters also noted that Meta’s developing proprietary AI chips and has talked with Google about possibly using its Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs. Those are Google’s custom AI chips.
Meta isn’t stopping at GPUs in its hardware ambitions. According to The Information on Wednesday, the company is set to launch its inaugural smartwatch before the year’s out, bringing back the “Malibu 2” line—this time, with health monitoring features and a Meta AI assistant built in. Meta wouldn’t comment to The Information, Reuters reported. Reuters
Director Patrick Collison picked up 102 Meta Class A shares on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing, after the vesting of restricted stock units. That brought his total to 360 shares post-transaction.
It was a choppy session for the broader market. The Nasdaq slipped 0.31%, while the S&P 500 eked out a 0.28% drop on Thursday. Investors worked through a batch of uneven economic readings as U.S.-Iran tensions helped send oil higher. U.S. crude settled at $66.43 a barrel, Brent at $71.66, according to Reuters.
Meta warned investors back in January about steeper costs ahead. The company projected 2026 expenses to climb sharply, pointing to increased pay and a wave of AI hires as it throws more money into its so-called “superintelligence” initiative, according to Reuters. Reuters
There’s a risk here, recession or not. Meta’s legal and regulatory headaches keep piling up. This week in Los Angeles, Zuckerberg was on the stand in a youth social media addiction trial, where jurors reviewed internal documents hinting at a “tween” strategy, according to Reuters. If Meta loses, damages could follow—and similar lawsuits might not be far behind. Reuters
Meta tracked gains in the AI sector on Wednesday, picking up 0.6% after Nvidia’s disclosure of its deal with Meta, according to Reuters’ latest market wrap.
Nvidia is set to deliver its quarterly results on February 25, with a conference call slated for 5 p.m. ET. That date has drawn attention from investors eager to see if hyperscalers such as Meta are maintaining their pace of orders.
