CITIC Securities: Meta Compute Leasing Plan Not a Sign of AI Compute Oversupply

CITIC Securities said news that Meta Platforms is considering leasing out part of its computing capacity has reignited market concerns about an AI compute glut, contributing to sharp volatility in tech stocks, according to Jiemian News. The brokerage said the selloff also reflects worries that have built up in recent months, including cash-flow pressure at cloud providers, uncertainty over the sustainability of upstream price increases, slowing capex growth and crowded AI trades. CITIC Securities argued Meta’s move is mainly aimed at improving utilization of older existing compute assets and does not conflict with its continued development of advanced models and investment in next-generation hardware. It added that compute rental rates have been rising recently, suggesting oversupply concerns are unfounded, and said the latest tech-stock pullback is more consistent with deleveraging and portfolio rebalancing amid tighter global liquidity rather than a reversal in the AI industry trend.