New York, Feb 26, 2026, 10:34 EST — Regular session
- Meta shares fall about 0.5% after an EU court adviser backs antitrust data demands
- Investors also weigh Meta’s AI supply push and scrutiny around a Louisiana data-center deal
- Next up: CFO Susan Li due to speak at Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference on March 4
Meta Platforms shares dipped on Thursday after an adviser to Europe’s top court recommended dismissing the company’s appeals against EU antitrust information requests, keeping regulatory risk in view. The stock was down about 0.5% at $650.24 in mid-morning trading, while the Nasdaq was off nearly 2%. (Investing)
The opinion lands at an awkward moment for big tech stocks. Investors have been quick to punish anything that hints at higher compliance costs, weaker data use, or drawn-out legal fights that hang over earnings.
Meta is also asking the market to stomach a large, multi-year buildout for artificial intelligence and data centers. That spending is supposed to protect its ad business and keep its apps competitive, but it leaves less room for surprises when regulators start tightening screws.
In Brussels, an adviser at the Court of Justice of the European Union said the court should dismiss Meta’s challenges to what it called aberrant information demands from the European Commission during two investigations. The adviser, Advocate General Athanasios Rantos, said the EU General Court did not err in its assessment of whether the requested information was necessary and what safeguards applied; the opinion is non-binding, and judges are due to rule in the coming months. (Reuters)
In the United States, Louisiana utility regulators denied an environmental law group’s request to investigate a $27 billion Meta data-center deal in Richland Parish, where three new gas-fired power plants would be built, the group said. “By dismissing this motion, the PSC is giving the green light” to similar structures, Susan Stevens Miller, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, said. (Reuters)
Meta’s AI shopping list has also been in focus since Tuesday, when Advanced Micro Devices said it agreed to sell up to $60 billion of AI chips to Meta over five years, a pact that includes a warrant that could let Meta buy as much as 10% of AMD. “Meta is locking in supply,” Matt Britzman, a senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, while AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth warned that “circular” arrangements can give investors “something else to worry about.” (Reuters)
Meta itself on Wednesday said CFO Susan Li will speak at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 4, with a webcast posted on its investor relations site. (Meta Investor)
A separate SEC filing signed on Feb. 25 showed Meta Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan reported sales tied to a Rule 10b5-1 plan — a pre-arranged trading program often used by executives to sell shares on a set schedule. (SEC)
But the market’s read-through is not straightforward. The EU court adviser’s view does not bind the judges, and a final ruling could still land differently — or arrive into a market that is focused on ad demand and AI returns, not courtroom calendars.
Traders will watch for any fresh regulatory moves in Europe and the U.S., and for what Li says on March 4 about spending, infrastructure and how Meta plans to keep AI costs from spilling into margins.
