Via theverge.com
Meta stock hits longest daily losing streak in history, shedding $223 billion in market cap
Nine straight days of losses have wiped out roughly 12.9% of Meta's value heading into a make-or-break earnings report
Meta Platforms has now strung together nine consecutive trading sessions of losses, the longest daily losing streak in the company’s history as a public company. That is not the kind of record Mark Zuckerberg typically likes to break.
The slide has erased approximately $223 billion in market capitalization, dragging the stock from a July intraday high of $681.90 down to around $593.41. In percentage terms, that’s a cumulative decline of roughly 12.9%, enough to push Meta’s market cap to approximately $1.5 trillion and its year-to-date performance to around -10%.
What’s driving the sell-off
The culprit, as it so often is these days, is artificial intelligence. Specifically, the staggering amount of money Meta is pouring into it.
Meta’s planned capital expenditures for 2026 are projected to reach $135 billion across the year.
The S&P 500 has gained roughly 8.5% year-to-date. Meta, meanwhile, is sitting at -10%. That’s an underperformance gap of nearly 19 percentage points.
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This losing streak is the polar opposite of what Meta experienced just over a year ago. In February 2025, Meta posted a 16-day winning streak, its longest ever on the upside, fueled by AI optimism and strong revenue projections.
The earnings report looming over everything
Meta’s Q2 earnings report is set to release after the market close on July 29, 2026. Analysts have projected revenue growth of approximately 27%, with total revenue expected near $60.29 billion for the quarter.
What this means for investors
Meta has been here before. Not exactly here, since this is literally unprecedented in the stock’s history dating back to its May 2012 IPO. The late 2022 collapse, when the stock lost more than three-quarters of its value from peak to trough during the metaverse spending panic, is the most obvious parallel.
Revenue growth of 27% is strong by any reasonable standard, but it needs to hold up against $135 billion in annual capital expenditures to justify the current valuation.