New York, February 20, 2026, 17:46 EST — Trading after the bell.
- Meta climbed roughly 1.7% in after-hours trading, picking up momentum with U.S. megacaps toward the end of the week.
- Meta has cut most employees’ annual stock awards by roughly 5%, according to a report.
- There’s a renewed smartwatch project in the mix, plus CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces a jury trial involving youth harm—investors are watching both developments.
Meta Platforms picked up 1.7% to close at $655.66 in after-hours action Friday, with the stock bouncing between $639.00 and $663.16 during the day’s session.
After a report surfaced saying Meta trimmed annual stock awards by roughly 5% for most staffers—marking two years in a row of cuts—CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing deeper on AI investments. The company’s 2026 capex outlook stands at $115 billion to $135 billion. Meta is putting up multiple gigawatt-scale data centers across the U.S., including a rural Louisiana project. Former President Donald Trump pegged that site at $50 billion, though Meta wouldn’t comment. 1
Timing is key right now, with investors zeroed in on how fast Big Tech can actually squeeze returns out of all that AI spending. Chipmakers and their largest buyers are under the microscope for any useful signals. “It’s hard for Nvidia to surprise when everyone expects it to surprise,” wrote Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at Empower, in her weekly note on AI-related stocks. 2
Stocks in the U.S. climbed on Friday, snapping higher after the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s global tariffs. Big growth shares led the move, and communication services outperformed every other S&P 500 sector. The S&P 500 picked up 0.69%, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.90%. 3
Meta is making hardware moves again. The Information says the company is dusting off its “Malibu 2” smartwatch, targeting a launch later this year, this time featuring health tracking and Meta’s own AI assistant. Meta wouldn’t comment. The same report pointed to Ray-Ban smartglasses powered by Meta, with shipments close to 6 million units last year. Several new augmented- and mixed-reality devices are also reportedly on Meta’s drawing board. 4
The Los Angeles jury trial is still hanging over Meta. On the stand, Zuckerberg rejected claims that Instagram targets kids and challenged assertions that the app was engineered for addictiveness, telling a lawyer in court they were “mischaracterising what I am saying,” Reuters reported from the trial. Damages could be on the table for Meta. Snap and TikTok avoided the courtroom—they reached settlements with the plaintiff ahead of the trial. 5
Investors are facing a trickier picture now. Meta is reining in certain aspects of staff compensation, yet it’s also touting a pricey push on infrastructure. Add to that its effort to branch out from advertising, rolling out new hardware in the process.
Still, there’s room for the trade to backfire. Hefty capital outlays risk squeezing margins and free cash flow if revenue growth falters. Slashing compensation could backfire by making it harder to keep talent, especially now. And the youth-harm lawsuit? That could either bring a negative verdict or keep legal risks hanging over the company.
Looking ahead, Nvidia’s quarterly earnings land Wednesday, February 25. Traders are zeroed in on management’s comments about customer demand, seeking clues on how the AI ramp-up—driven by Meta and other heavyweight buyers—is playing out. 6
