(Bloomberg) -- Meta Platforms Inc. edged lower on Thursday after it was hit with a rare sell-equivalent rating from an analyst with a record of successful contrarian calls. 

BNP Paribas Exane’s Stefan Slowinski said that unlike its Big Tech peers, Meta lacks new revenue streams to replenish its coffers as it looks to spend massively on artificial intelligence features.

Slowinski, who has been bearish on stocks that typically enjoy near-unanimous buy ratings, said he prefers others in the fast growing generative AI space, including Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Salesforce Inc. and Oracle Corp. 

Artificial intelligence “can help businesses increase efficiency and cut costs. But for those developing the technology, the AI battle is proving costly,” he wrote in a note dated Thursday.  

The Facebook-owner spooked investors last week when it revealed that it will spend billions of dollars more than expected this year — driven by investments in AI. The strategic pivot seemed to have caught some investors by surprise because the company had embraced aggressive cost-cutting in recent quarters to boost profit.

Slowinski’s contrarian calls have found success in the past: Amazon.com Inc. stock fell about 24% in the time he had an underperform rating on the e-commerce giant between 2022 and 2023. 

Amazon was and remains the most-loved stock on Wall Street, attracting at least 68 buy-equivalent ratings through Wednesday’s close. Meta has at least 63 analysts with buy-equivalent ratings, seven holds and only three sell ratings among analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

While Meta enters the AI arena in a strong position, its “war chest, built through its ‘year of efficiency,’ may be depleted,” said Slowinski. 

--With assistance from James Cone.

(Updates with stock move at the open.)

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