META Caught in the Brutal High-Beta Sell-Off, but Reddit Sentiment Holds Positive

META was a focal point in Reddit discussions about the brutal high-beta momentum sell-off, with sentiment staying positive at 0.618.
Investors cited ongoing AI infrastructure spending by Meta as a fundamental reason to hold, despite the sell-off.
Retail traders on r/wallstreetbets shared personal losses on META options, reflecting the volatility.

META in the Crosshairs of the High-Beta Rout

$META appeared in multiple Reddit threads on July 17 as the broader market experienced what some users described as the worst high-beta momentum sell-off in history. The stock’s inclusion in the high-beta AI basket made it a prime target for forced selling, yet Reddit sentiment for META remained firmly positive at 0.618, according to Tendie.bot data.

In r/stockmarket and r/wallstreetbets, identical posts highlighted the brutal nature of the sell-off, noting that it surpassed even the Great Financial Crisis, COVID, and the dot-com bubble in magnitude. The posts argued that the sell-off was leverage-driven rather than fundamental, and that long-term AI infrastructure spending – including by companies like

$META – would continue.

Reddit Reactions and Options Activity

A user on r/wallstreetbets shared a trade report: "Made 40k on meta calls 2 weeks ago. Just to lose it all this week." This anecdote captured the whipsaw nature of the sell-off, where quick gains evaporated. The same user then went extra leveraged on

$ORCL calls, showing the risk-on mentality among some retail traders.

On r/ValueInvesting, a post about Barron’s article "The Tech Selloff Is Turning Into a Rout" cited

$META as one of the AI and chip stocks experiencing significant declines. The discussion emphasized that downward momentum was gaining pace, but the underlying thesis for companies like

$META remained intact.

AI Infrastructure Spending Remains a Key Theme

In a detailed analysis on r/stocks about

$MU, the poster argued that AI infrastructure spending is in an early phase, citing

$META, Google, and Microsoft as companies actively building mega data centers. The post concluded that legally binding "take-or-pay" contracts with suppliers like MU lock in spending, making a slowdown unlikely. While the post focused on MU, it reinforced the broader narrative that Meta’s capital expenditure plans are a buffer against the sell-off.

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