Meta Platforms is facing another delay in its artificial intelligence rollout, and investors have a familiar question: how much patience does the stock still deserve?
The company’s Muse Spark developer API has reportedly been pushed back several times, with no confirmed launch date as of this week.
That would be a smaller issue if Meta were spending cautiously, as the company has raised its 2026 capital expenditure plan to as much as $145 billion, making the API delay a test of execution, not just product timing.
For META stock, the debate is no longer whether Meta can spend, but whether it can prove the spending is working fast enough.
Meta’s execution test
The immediate concern is Muse Spark, Meta’s latest AI model and the first major release from its Superintelligence Labs.
The model was unveiled in April, and its developer API was expected to follow soon after.
Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang said in an April post on X that the API was “coming soon”. Nearly two months later, it is still not broadly available.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Meta has repeatedly delayed the Muse Spark API for developers and had no confirmed launch date as of Tuesday.
A Meta spokesperson said the company is testing the API with early partners and expects to release it within the month.
Investors have seen this pattern before as Meta reportedly delayed its Avocado model earlier this year.
Its Behemoth model also slipped in 2025 after concerns about its capabilities and Muse Spark was supposed to show that the new AI group had fixed some of those execution problems.
Instead, the API delay has created another watch-the-clock moment.
$145 billion in, and investors want proof
The delay matters more because Meta’s AI bill is getting larger.
In April, the company raised its full-year 2026 capex guidance to $125 billion to $145 billion, up from a previous range of $115 billion to $135 billion.
That spending is being driven by AI infrastructure, data centres, chips and future compute capacity.
Meta stock fell after hours following the Q1 results, even though the quarter itself was strong.
When Mark Zuckerberg was asked on the earnings call how the company would measure return on all this spending, he called it “a very technical question”.
That was not the answer investors looking for a clean ROI framework wanted to hear.
Still, the bear case needs balance. Meta is not pouring money into AI with no operating proof. Its core advertising business remains exceptionally strong.
In Q1, advertising revenue reached $55 billion, while ad impressions rose 19% and average price per ad increased 12% from a year earlier.
That matters because Meta’s AI work is already improving ranking, targeting and ad delivery across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
So is META still a buy?
Wall Street still leans strongly bullish. StockAnalysis data shows 64 analysts rate META a “Strong Buy”, with an average 12-month price target of $826.75.
Based on a recent share price near $623, that implies roughly 33% upside.
Analysts are still constructive because Meta’s core business is strong, its AI tools are already improving ad performance, and the company has the cash flow to fund a heavy infrastructure buildout.
But the delay changes the burden of proof. Until Muse Spark is broadly available, investors are being asked to trust Meta’s AI roadmap rather than measure its developer traction.
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