this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
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517
Meta Is Dying. It’s About Time. (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 2 days ago by mysticpickle@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Increasingly, Meta has been using debt to fuel its spending, amassing $59 billion in long-term debt on its balance sheet by the end of 2025, double the prior year’s total. And that doesn’t count the “aggressive” accounting it has used to keep the cost of a $27 billion Louisiana data center off its books. “The spending growth looks increasingly unsustainable,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Heard on the Street” columnist Asa Fitch wrote this week.

Now, as the company careens from one staggeringly expensive misadventure to another, its cash-cow core business is starting to wear out. Last quarter, the number of daily active users across its properties declined for the first time to 3.56 billion from 3.58 billion.

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[–] xylogx@lemmy.world 83 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Bullshit:

Meta reported for its most recent quarter (Q1 2026, ended March 31, 2026):

  • Revenue: $56.3 billion
  • Net income (profit): $26.8 billion

That was up from:

  • $42.3 billion revenue a year earlier
  • $16.6 billion net income a year earlier
[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah there’s a lot of wishful thinking in this article. They still have a shit ton of cash, a lot of smart people, an incredible ad engine they can deploy onto any internet property. The metaverse was a complete wank but they still have more to work with than just about anyone out there.

Even if this article is right, and their arc has finally turned downward, it’s because they’ve finally hit the peak of an absolutely epic run. Stink of death? I hate them as much as anyone, but yeah… no.

[–] tgf@lemmy.world 55 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When an aging business starts to take on water, the quickest, easiest — and most destructive — solution is to make moves that will generate more money now but may cost the company later. And that’s exactly what Meta has started to do. In the first three months of this year, the company started cramming more ads onto its platforms while charging advertisers more. Those choices may have allowed the company to increase its revenue per user by a significant 27 percent in the first quarter of 2026, but they are also likely to further alienate users (and annoy advertisers).

[–] dan@upvote.au 4 points 1 day ago

while charging advertisers more

The major online ad networks like Meta and Google don't actually set a price on most of their ads. It's an auction system. Advertisers enter a bid for how much they're willing to pay for their ads. When serving ads, the system displays the ads that have the highest bid for the user's demographic.

[–] lung@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago

oh no they only have 3.5 billion users how will meta ever survive, their ability to take on debt must mean they are seen as unable to pay debts

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 17 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I believe the company is at the start of a long, slow decline ... if you look carefully, you can see chinks in the armor

Almost lyrical, free of palpable fact. Well, at least it's labeled "Opinion"

The latest earnings, released on April 29, revealed a dip in user numbers for the first time since it started reporting these figures.

This seems to be what got the author spinning their vision. I'll take it. Here's to hoping 🥂

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

You can down vote such bullshit headlines too. It is clear that it is nonsense.

[–] somethingsnappy@lemmy.world -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When you don't understand how full accounting works.

[–] lath@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Fraud and tax evasion, right?

[–] somethingsnappy@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

I'm not defending anything but math. Thanks, though.