NEW YORK, Feb 11, 2026, 16:15 EST — After-hours trading
- Meta shares closed a bit down after investors digested news of a new $10 billion U.S. data center expansion focused on artificial intelligence.
- Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square revealed a fresh stake in Meta, pitching the stock as a winner in AI despite concerns over spending.
- A German court ruling, paired with new SEC filings, has intensified the flurry of activity surrounding the social media group.
Meta Platforms (META) shares slipped slightly on Wednesday, following the announcement of a $10 billion data center build in Indiana aimed at boosting its AI efforts. The stock finished down 0.3% at $668.80, with intraday swings between $657.65 and $679.23. Meanwhile, the tech-focused Invesco QQQ ETF gained 0.3%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF held steady.
Investors are growing choosier about where their AI dollars go. Data centers come with long lead times, hefty power demands, and significant depreciation before turning into revenue.
Meta insists AI will boost engagement and ad performance, but right now, the market’s main concern is straightforward: how much money is being spent upfront. Even minor, unrelated factors can sway sentiment when the figures are this huge.
Meta’s new Indiana data center is planned to support 1 gigawatt of capacity — enough power to serve about 800,000 homes, according to U.S. grid standards. Rachel Peterson, Meta’s VP for data centers, told Reuters the Lebanon, Indiana site is expected to be operational by late 2027 or early 2028. She added the company is footing the bill for energy upgrades and emphasized, “We’re going to be pushing a lot of capacity through construction very quickly at this site.” 1
Just hours later, billionaire investor Bill Ackman revealed that his hedge fund bought Meta shares late last year, allocating about 10% of Pershing Square’s capital—roughly $2 billion—to the bet. In a presentation seen by Reuters, the firm argued Meta’s stock price “underappreciates” the company’s long-term AI potential, even while recognizing investor worries about Meta’s AI spending. 2
A separate Form 144 filing revealed that Meta’s Jennifer Newstead plans to sell 515 shares of Class A stock, valued at roughly $349,057. The filing also noted the sales would occur under a Rule 10b5-1 plan—a pre-arranged trading strategy insiders use to avoid suspicions of trading on inside information. 3
A German court has ordered Meta’s subsidiary Edge Network Services to pay Deutsche Telekom roughly 30 million euros for network services linked to traffic from Meta’s platforms, a court spokesperson confirmed. Meta disagrees strongly with the ruling. The case revolves around “peering points,” which are where data enters a network. The court noted Edge has one month after receiving the judgment to appeal to Germany’s federal court of justice. 4
There are obvious risks here. Delays in data-center builds due to power issues or community resistance could throw off timelines. If costs keep climbing beyond what investors anticipate, the stock might drop—even with a strong ad business. Legal and regulatory battles can also erupt unexpectedly, and their expenses are notoriously tough to predict.
Traders are focusing less on Wednesday’s closing numbers and more on upcoming headlines that could shake confidence. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri was scheduled to testify Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom over claims the app’s design negatively impacted young users. Meta pushed back, saying it “strongly disagree[s]” with the charges. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is slated to testify in the weeks ahead. 5
