The US$80B mistake Meta just admitted

Hey Superheroes,

This week had two big drivers. Rates and oil.

The RBA lifted the cash rate again, up 25 basis points to 4.1%. It was a split decision and the first back-to-back hike since mid-2023. The message was clear. Inflation is still a risk, and it may stick around longer than expected.

Then oil took over. Brent crude briefly spiked to US$119 a barrel before pulling back. The reversal came after signs the Strait of Hormuz could reopen, with Israel indicating the conflict may ease sooner than feared.

But the bigger picture hasn’t changed. Supply is still tight, the situation remains fragile and energy is once again shaping the inflation outlook.

Here’s what investors are watching.

What killed the metaverse

Meta just made it official. The metaverse isn’t the future it once promised.

Horizon Worlds, the virtual reality platform that drove Facebook’s rebrand to Meta back in 2021, is being pulled from Quest headsets by June 15. It will disappear from the store even earlier, surviving only as a scaled-back mobile app.

Not quite the next frontier.

💸 An expensive lesson

This wasn’t a small experiment.

Meta’s Reality Labs division has lost nearly US$80 billion since 2020. In the most recent quarter alone, it posted a loss of more than US$6 billion on less than US$1 billion in revenue.

User growth never came close to expectations. Horizon Worlds attracted only a few hundred thousand monthly users at its peak.

For one of the biggest bets in tech history, the return simply wasn’t there.

🤔 What went wrong

Put simply, people didn’t show up. Then the narrative shifted.

When generative AI took off in late 2022, Meta quickly changed direction. Its long-standing AI research capability gave it a credible way forward, and the business followed.

Advertising rebounded. The share price recovered strongly. And the metaverse quietly faded into the background.

🤖 The new bet is much bigger

Meta is now going all-in on AI.

The company expects to spend US$115 to US$135 billion in 2026 on infrastructure alone. That includes data centres, advanced chips, and large-scale model training.

The partnerships are already lining up, including multibillion-dollar deals to secure next-generation GPUs and the fibre networks needed to power them.

And unlike the metaverse, this strategy already has scale.

Meta AI is approaching 1 billion monthly users, giving it a distribution advantage most competitors don’t have.

Even its hardware story is shifting. Ray-Ban smart glasses, powered by AI, have seen strong demand, with sales tripling last year.

📉 What investors should watch

Meta shares dipped on the news and are modestly lower so far this year.

For now, most analysts remain positive. The core advertising business is still massive, and Meta’s global user base gives it a strong foundation.

The key question is what comes next. Can Meta turn its huge AI investment into real, lasting revenue?

It has done it before with social media. The metaverse showed it doesn’t always get it right.

This time, the company is spending as if it already knows the answer.

Immutep: From the Ashes

Sometimes the stock market gives you a second act. This week, Immutep (ASX:IMM) got one… sort of.

After resuming from a trading halt, the stock collapsed nearly 90% following the failure of its lead lung cancer trial. More than A$500 million in value was wiped out in a single move.

📉 What went wrong

The company’s flagship drug, Efti, was being tested in a Phase III trial alongside Keytruda and chemotherapy.

An independent review found the treatment wasn’t working and recommended the trial be scrapped.

It was a major setback for the company and for investors, including Regal Partners, which held a significant stake.

📈 A small rebound

Since then, the story has shifted slightly.

Immutep released early results from a separate drug, IMP761, targeting autoimmune diseases. Early signs show it is safe and well tolerated, with the trial moving to the next phase.

The market response has been cautious, but it’s a reminder the company has more than one shot on goal.

⚠️ The reality check

The loss of its lead cancer program still matters a lot.

The stock remains sharply lower, and any recovery will take time, more data, and renewed confidence in the pipeline.

Biotech can deliver big wins. But outcomes are often all or nothing.

🔦 Some other things we’re shining the Spotlight on:

YOUTUBE IS NOW THE BIGGEST PLAYER IN MEDIA: YouTube generated US$40.4 billion in ad revenue in 2025, more than Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery combined. It also leads US TV viewership with a 12.5% share. Analysts now value the platform at up to US$560 billion and see it as one of the biggest long-term winners in an AI-driven media landscape.

GOLD AND SILVER PULL BACK SHARPLY: Gold fell more than 6% and silver dropped over 8% this week. Instead of acting as safe havens, both sold off as investors raised cash and managed rising borrowing costs. After a strong run this year, it’s a reminder that even defensive assets can move quickly when conditions shift.

QANTAS FARES UNDER PRESSURE: Qantas says forecasting airfares right now is “really challenging” as fuel costs surge. International fares have already risen, with some routes seeing sharp increases. Analysts expect the fuel shock to weigh on earnings, even with higher ticket prices helping offset the impact.

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