Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTJabran KundiThu, July 16, 2026 at 8:14 PM GMT+2 5 min readMeta Platforms (META) is going much bigger in Louisiana. Earlier this week, the company announced that its Hyperion data center in Richland Parish will expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, up from the earlier plan for 2 GW. The total investment in the project has now crossed $50 billion. Hyperion is where Meta trains its largest AI models, and construction has been running since December 2024.What makes the announcement particularly interesting is its timing. Less than two weeks ago, Meta was reportedly setting up a cloud unit to sell its spare computing power, which caused META stock to rise. In May, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had already told shareholders that getting into cloud computing was "definitely on the table." The CEO said that companies were approaching Meta almost every week, asking to buy the company's API service or pay a premium for its spare compute. So, a company that looks like it already has compute to spare is now more than doubling its largest site.More News from BarchartMicron Stock Is Off 31% From Its High. Why This Could Be the Best Time to Buy.Nvidia Stock Could Still Soar 140% to Reach $500, Says Wall StreetMU Stock Alert: What to Watch as Micron Takes a Stake in GlobalWafersMarkets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines.Both can be true. Data centers get built in huge blocks, based on what a company expects to need years ahead. That means that Meta can have spare capacity in one place and still be short in another. This is why the company can be planning to sell compute to firms while also buying compute from CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) for itself. If the cloud plan goes ahead, the extra capacity at Hyperion will no longer be a liability. It will become something Meta can sell. That would turn an investment of up to $145 billion this year into a revenue line, which is what investors have been waiting to hear.Meta Platforms is a technology company built around social media, digital advertising, and artificial intelligence (AI). Its family of apps includes Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads. Founded in 2004, the company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Over the last 12 months, META stock has dropped 5%, significantly underperforming the S&P 500's ($SPX) 21% gain during the same period. Much of the decline has been due to investors worrying about the company's heavy AI spending. Recently, though, META stock has recovered well, increasing by 12% in the past month and 6% in just the last five days. This gain has been helped by reports that Meta is building a cloud unit to sell its spare computing power. Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info