Meta Platforms (META) is in focus on Friday following a report that the company is in early-stage discussions with Anthropic to lease computing power from its AI data centers in a deal potentially worth up to $10 billion over two years.
Anthropic reportedly proposed the arrangement in June, with payments structured as monthly installments and both parties retaining the option to exit early. The negotiations remain fluid and may not result in a finalized agreement.
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At the time of writing, Meta stock is hovering around the same price at which it started 2026.
www.barchart.comWhy Anthropic Wants to Buy Compute Power From Meta?
The potential deal represents about one-third the size of Anthropic’s existing three-year, $45 billion compute agreement with Elon Musk's SpaceX (SPCX), signed in May.
Anthropic has experienced surging demand following the release of its enterprise product Claude Code, making access to additional computing capacity critical for serving its growing client base.
Securing sufficient Nvidia (NVDA) chips remains a bottleneck for artificial intelligence developers, which explains why Anthropic is pursuing arrangements with multiple tech firms to expand capacity.
Significance of the Anthropic Deal for Meta Platforms
For Meta, this deal would mark a significant strategic milestone by opening a new line of business in cloud computing.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly indicated that companies approach Meta weekly seeking to purchase computing power at a premium, and he acknowledged that selling excess capacity could generate returns if the company overbuilds infrastructure.
META plans to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, more than double the $72 billion spent last year, with the vast majority directed toward AI.
The company has faced persistent investor questions about whether its artificial intelligence models can compete with those from rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, and whether its huge data center investments can generate adequate returns.
Why Cloud Business Is Particularly Bullish for META Shares
META shares initially fell as much as 6% on Friday amid a broader tech selloff but pared losses significantly after the Anthropic deal was reported, trading down roughly 3% by midday.
The recovery suggests investors view the potential revenue diversification favorably, as it would directly pit Meta against established compute providers CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS).
Notably, Meta itself has been a customer of both companies, having signed a $21 billion deal with CoreWeave in April and a $27 billion deal with Nebius in March, indicating it understands the economics of compute leasing from both sides.
The timing is particularly relevant because the price of computing power has reportedly skyrocketed due to limited supply and surging demand, presenting Meta with an opportunity to monetize its data centers at highly attractive rates.
This development arrives alongside Meta's broader push into cloud computing, including the recruitment of Dave Brown, a senior vice president at Amazon (AMZN)'s Amazon Web Services with nearly two decades of experience, and the establishment of its Meta Compute initiative aimed at building hundreds of gigawatts of computational capability.
How Wall Street Recommends Playing Meta Stock
Note that Wall Street remains bullish on META stock for the next 12 months.
The consensus rating on Meta Platforms sits at “Strong Buy” currently, with the mean price target of $823 indicating potential upside of more than 25% from here.
www.barchart.comThis article was created with the support of automated content tools from our partners at Sigma.AI. Together, our financial data and AI solutions help us to deliver more informed market headline analysis to readers faster than ever.
On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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