Original link: Meta rakes it in, yet still borrows billions for AI / MSN.
Apparently Meta/Facebook is not actually making as much money as most think. WSJ did the numbers:
Operating profit 115.8 B$ - investment 72.2 B$ = free cash 43. 6 B$
sounds very good, but:
free cash 43. 6 B$ - 18.4 B$ tax vested employee stock awards - 23.6 B$ stock buy back to offset dillution from vested employee stock awards = 1.6 B$
which is nothing. And that explains why Meta has increased it formal debt with 30 B$ and parked an additional 27 B$ in debt elsewhere.