標普全球因AI支出與現金流疑慮，將Meta展望下修至「負面」

10月30日（路透）— 標普全球評級（S&P Global Ratings）週五將Meta Platforms的展望由「穩定」下修至「負面」，理由是這家社群媒體巨頭的資本支出與自由營運現金流存在重大不確定性。Oct 30 (Reuters) - S&P Global Ratings on Friday revised its outlook on Meta Platforms to "negative" from "stable", citing significant uncertainty around the social media giant's capital spending and free operating cash flow.

大型科技公司歷來在雲端運算、線上廣告與電子商務方面投入龐大資金，但AI熱潮已把資本支出推升到令人咋舌的水準，引發投資人擔憂這個產業能否以足夠快的速度創造報酬。Big Tech has historically spent heavily on cloud computing, online advertising and e-commerce, but the AI boom has pushed capital expenditure to dizzying levels, stoking investor concerns about whether the sector can generate returns quickly enough.

Meta上週公布第三季自由現金流短缺21.2億美元後，預估全年資本支出介於1,350億至1,450億美元之間。Meta也計畫進入公開市場，並出售975億美元股票，以資助AI建設。Last week, Meta forecast annual capital expenditure between $135 billion-$145 billion after reporting a free cash flow deficit of $2.12 billion in the third quarter. Meta is also planning to tap public markets and sell $97.5 billion in stock to fund the AI buildout.

標普表示，Meta將AI投資變現的能力較同業更受限，並補充說，未來幾年其收入來源何時能產生足以超過不斷上升成本的實質貢獻，目前仍不明朗。Meta's ability to monetize its AI investments is more limited than that of its peers, S&P said, adding it was unclear when its revenue streams would generate material contributions exceeding their rising costs over the next few years.

標普目前預測，Meta在2026年將出現390億美元的自由營運現金流赤字，2027年赤字則為710億美元。S&P now forecasts Meta will generate FOCF deficits of $39 billion in 2026 and $71 billion in 2027.

該機構表示，高支出可能使自由營運現金流到2028年以後仍為負值，並預期Meta將完全以債務支應其2028年的現金缺口。The agency said elevated spending could keep FOCF negative beyond 2028 and expects Meta to fund its 2028 cash shortfall entirely with debt.

標普表示：「鑑於該公司未來資本支出及其非常有企圖心的多年期AI投資計畫缺乏清晰度，我們對其是否會如先前預期般節制支出，已較不那麼有把握。」"Given the lack of clarity around the company's future capex and its very ambitious multi-year AI investment plans, we are less certain that it will curtail its spending as previously anticipated," S&P said.

這家信評機構表示，其認為Meta的槓桿率最快可能在2027年升至1.0倍以上，而這是標普全球對「AA-」發行人信用評等設定的門檻。The ratings agency said it believes Meta's leverage could rise to above 1.0x as early as 2027, which is S&P Global's threshold for the "AA-" issuer credit rating.

Meta一名發言人告訴路透：「我們尊重地不同意標普對Meta AI變現能力的說法。」該發言人並補充，公司認為「我們面前有重大的產品與商業機會，支撐我們非常強健的信用狀況。」"We respectfully disagree with S&P's assertion about Meta's AI monetization capabilities," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the company sees "significant product and business opportunities ahead of us, supporting our very strong credit profile."

標普表示，Meta的槓桿率已從2025年的0.1倍上升，主因是其採取租用資料中心容量、而非發行債務的策略。Meta's leverage increased from 0.1x in 2025, primarily due to its strategy of leasing data-center capacity rather than issuing debt, S&P said.

標普全球評級美國媒體與電信產業負責人Naveen Sarma表示：「如果資本支出維持高檔，並繼續以快於我們預期的速度成長，信用狀況將持續惡化，現金流也將為負。」"If capex remains elevated and continues to grow at a faster pace than we expect, credit profiles will continue to weaken and cash flows will be negative," Naveen Sarma, US media and telecom sector lead at S&P Global Ratings, said.

該公司公布，截至9月30日，長期債務為809.2億美元。The company reported long-term debt of $80.92 billion as of September 30.

標普週四也將博通（Broadcom）的展望由正面下調至穩定，稱這家晶片製造商在AI領域的快速成長，正提高其對少數大型客戶的曝險。S&P on Thursday also lowered its outlook on Broadcom to stable from positive, saying the chipmaker's rapid AI growth was increasing its exposure to a few big customers.

今年稍早，標普因雲端運算巨頭甲骨文（Oracle）的資產負債表高度槓桿化，將其信用評等下調至「BBB-」，僅比「垃圾級」高一級。Earlier this year, S&P lowered cloud computing giant Oracle's credit rating to "BBB-", one notch above "junk", due to its heavily leveraged balance sheet.

（Vallari Srivastava與Prathik Jayaprakash班加羅爾報導；Pooja Desai編輯）(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava and Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)