Meta Platforms ended the third quarter of 2026 with $810 billion of spending it has already promised but not yet put on its balance sheet. That is $355.7 billion of signed leases that have not yet commenced, plus $454.5 billion of non-cancelable contractual commitments. One year earlier the same two figures summed to $139 billion.

Against trailing-twelve-month operating cash flow of $133 billion, those commitments have gone from about 1.3 years of cash generation to about 6.1 years in twelve months.

The timing has changed along with the size. At Q3 2024, 13.5% of contractual commitments were due after the next fiscal year. At Q3 2026, 63.2% were due after 2027.

The buildup

The inflection came in Q3 2025, when contractual commitments nearly tripled in a single quarter, from $28 billion to $81 billion. Uncommenced leases took over at year-end 2025, roughly doubling and then doubling again by Q1 2026. Both are still climbing: this quarter leases rose $77 billion and contractual commitments $105 billion, while trailing-twelve-month operating cash flow rose from $130.3 billion to $133.1 billion.

Commitments now run further out

The share of Meta's contractual commitments due after the next fiscal year rose from 13.5% at Q3 2024 to 63.2% at Q3 2026.

Meta's Q1 2024 10-Q showed $1.0 billion of contractual commitments due in 2025. Its Q3 2024 10-Q showed $16.5 billion due in 2025, an increase of $15.4 billion in two quarters.

We compare the same quarter each year because the remainder-of-year bucket covers three quarters in a Q1 filing but only one in a Q3 filing.

At Q3 2026, $121.4 billion of contractual commitments are due in 2027 and $287.3 billion after 2027.

What to watch

• Lease commencements. As the $355.7 billion of signed leases start, they move onto the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities, and payments begin.
• 2027 capex guidance. Compare whatever range Meta gives with the $121.4 billion already contracted for 2027.
• Debt and cash. Watch whether new issuance keeps pace with the payment schedule.
• The rest of the hyperscalers. The same disclosures for Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Oracle and perhaps a few others.

How we built this

All figures come from Calcbench's standardized and as-reported data for Meta's 10-Q and 10-K filings, Q1 2024 through Q3 2026. Uncommenced leases come from the lease note and contractual commitments from the commitments and contingencies note; we treat them as separate obligations and add them. Q4 cash flows are the fiscal year less the first nine months. Our free cash flow is operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment. The next-fiscal-year bucket was not available for Q1 and Q2 2025.

Sources

• Meta Q3 2026 commitments and contingencies disclosure (Calcbench)
• Meta Q3 2026 property, plant and equipment disclosure (Calcbench)
• Meta Q3 2026 earnings release, Exhibit 99.1 (Calcbench)