- Meta Platforms reported Wednesday softer revenue guidance for the current quarter as the social media giant looks to ramp-up annual spending by more than previously expected to cash in on artificial intelligence boom. 

For Q2, the company guided total revenue to be in the range of $36.5B to $39B, or $37.75B at the midpoint, missing estimates of $38.3B. 

The weaker-than-expected revenue outlook comes as the company now expects full-year 2024 capital expenditures in the range of $35B to $40B, up from a prior range of $30B to $37B as the company said it will "continue to accelerate our infrastructure investments to support our artificial intelligence roadmap."

The weaker guidance and ramp up in spending offset Q1 results that beat analyst estimates.

For the three months ended Mar. 31, Meta earnings of $4.71 per share on revenue of $36.46 billion. Analysts polled by anticipated EPS of $4.32 on revenue of $36.14B.

Family daily active users, or DAP, was 3.24 billion on average for March 2024, an increase of 7% year-over-year.

The ramp up in spending on AI chips and data centers could weigh on margins and not only stifle the social media giant's innovation roadmap, but also potentially pressure user acquisition spending.

"Investors are pricing in tighter margins for Zuckerberg's company than previously expected, which means fewer competitive advantages, particularly in the innovation field - both VR and AI,"  analyst Thomas Monterio said on Wednesday.

The higher spending "will fatally lead to less user acquisition spending, growth in this area could very well hit negative numbers next quarter," Monterio said.

Still, it's too early for investors to hit the panic button, Monterio adds, highlighting Meta's "several growth drivers that are likely to produce pickup throughout the year as the company implements less ad-reliant monetization strategies."

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:) fell more than 11% in afterhours following the news.