Michael Burry

Factual · AI compute, hardware and data

“During the same quarter, Meta (META) extended its useful server lives to 5.5 years, reducing the depreciation hit to net income by $2.9 billion.”

Michael Burry, Substack author · 9 July 2026 · Short Thoughts July 8, 2026 - NVDA, Neos, Hyperscalers, Jevons Paradox, and Compression (Cassandra Unchained)

In the same quarter in early 2025, Meta extended its useful server lives to 5.5 years, reducing the depreciation hit to net income by $2.9 billion.

Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

What would count as true or false

Test: against Meta's filings. True: Meta extended the estimated useful life of its servers and network assets to 5.5 years, effective in the quarter the claim refers to (early 2025, beginning January 2025), and disclosed a reduction of about $2.9 billion (within 5%) in depreciation expense or in its impact on net income. Mostly true: the extension to 5.5 years happened in that quarter, and $2.9 billion is Meta's estimate of the full-year 2025 reduction in depreciation expense (pre-tax) rather than the effect on net income in that quarter. Mixed: the extension happened but the amount disclosed differs materially (by more than 5% and less than 30%). Mostly false: the extension was to a different useful life or took place in a different period, with only loosely related figures. False: Meta made no such extension.

Evidence

1. meta-20250331 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-Q for Q1 2025) · 31 March 2025

   “Based on the servers and network assets placed in service as of December 31, 2024, the financial impact of this change in estimate included a reduction in depreciation expense of $826 million and an increase in net income of $695 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2025.”

2. Document - SEC.gov U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Meta Platforms, Inc. Exhibit 99.1, Q4 and FY2024 results press release dated January 29, 2025) · 29 January 2025

   “Based on the servers and network assets placed in service as of December 31, 2024, we expect this change in accounting estimate will reduce our full year 2025 depreciation expense by approximately $2.9 billion.”

3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - SEC.gov U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Meta Platforms, Inc. XBRL accounting policies page, 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2025)

   “| Servers and network assets | | | | | | to 5.5 years | | |”

Reasoning

Meta's Q1 2025 10-Q reports the effect of the useful-life change for the three months ended March 31, 2025, showing it took effect in Q1 2025 (E1). Meta's 2025 accounting policies list servers and network assets "to 5.5 years" (E3). The $2.9 billion figure is Meta's estimate of the reduction in full-year 2025 depreciation expense (E2), not the effect on net income for the quarter. For Q1 2025 alone, depreciation fell by $826 million and net income rose by $695 million (E1). This matches the criteria's 'mostly true' case.

Cite this claim

Michael Burry, “In the same quarter in early 2025, Meta extended its useful server lives to 5.5 years, reducing the depreciation hit to net income by $2.9 billion.” (said 9 July 2026). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_21f406e04b38, method 0.1.0+c876030c. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_21f406e04b38