The cost of insuring Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) debt against default rose to a record Thursday as investors weighed the Facebook parent’s growing AI spending plans.
Meta’s five-year credit default swaps rose 7.6 basis points to a record 114.79 basis points, according to Markit data cited by Reuters.
The swaps work much like insurance on corporate debt, and a higher price means investors are paying more to protect against a default.
META stock is tanking. See the real-time price action here. 55 Billion in BondsMeta has sold $55 billion of bonds in the past year. It raised $30 billion in October 2025, its largest bond offering, and $25 billion more in April 2026.
On Wednesday, the company raised the low end of its 2026 capital spending forecast to $135 billion and kept the high end at $145 billion.
Free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion in the third quarter, marking Meta’s first quarterly shortfall since 2012.
Meta also announced a new class of nonvoting Class C stock. According to Reuters, the company’s long-range forecasts call for raising hundreds of billions of dollars over several years to pay for its AI plans.
Cash CushionMeta is not close to default. It had $82.45 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Sept. 30, and third-quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion.
Investors still want proof the spending will pay off.
"The market has been questioning whether all the spending on AI is having the type of returns that the market originally expected," Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC on Thursday that capital is tight across the AI industry. "The demand [for] the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital," he said.
Swaps on Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) also traded near a record, and those tied to Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) held near their highest level since March 2020, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by Reuters.
META Stock Price Activity: Meta Platforms shares are trading lower by 7.40% at $645.92 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Tržby společnosti Meta v divizi Family of Apps vzrostly ve 2. čtvrtletí meziročně o 28 % na 60,4 mld. USD, k čemuž přispěl 14% růst reklamních impresí.
Key Takeaways Rapid Muse growth proves premium monetizable engagement.Post-earnings test of the 10-week MA offers an attractive entry.With a 23x P/E, Meta is fundamentally undervalued. Early Meta Muse Data is Extremely Bullish“Muse,” Meta Platform’s ((META - Free Report) ) agentic AI offering, debuted in early September. In just over a month, Muse shot to the top of the Apple App Store rankings and became the fastest-growing consumer app in history outside OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Beyond the rapid user growth, the latest data from Meta’s earnings call revealed that each customer is more valuable than a typical AI customer. CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained:
"The most common use case for Muse is shopping. With more than a quarter of people who are using Muse engaging in this with an average purchase size of over $200, Plaid told us that they hadn't seen activity like they're seeing with their connector on any other service before. And in the first week, we had to work with Stripe to raise credit limits since the volumes were above what any of us expected. Beyond shopping, the most common connectors are for personal productivity and connecting Muse to your other services like email and calendar."
In other words, Muse users are premium, making it easier for Meta to monetize in the future.
Meta Retreats to the 10-week Moving AverageMost amateur investors focus too much on short term time frames and suffer from recency bias from the latest price movements. Conversely, seasoned investors understand the value of analyzing higher time-frame charts (like weekly charts) to filter out the noise and size up the overall trend.
Although Meta dropped ~5% Thursday after its earnings, the overall price trend remains firmly higher. From late July to late September, Meta shares ripped from ~$524 to $780 in a straight line. Before earnings, shares digested the move and traded sideways. However, after earnings, Meta shares tagged the 10-week moving average for the first time since the breakout. Historically, such pullbacks are high-probability buy-the-dip opportunities for investors.
Image Source: TradingView
Meta is Extremely CheapWith a P/E ratio of just 23x, Meta is the cheapest “Mag 7” name.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Meta’s Top-Line Growth is Robust Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest that Meta’s revenues will grow at 20% or more through next year. Considering the robust double-digit growth and reasonable valuation, Meta is sure to attract growth-at-a-reasonable price (GARP) investors.
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AI Impact on Ad RevenuesWhile Muse garners the most attention for Meta’s AI efforts, its in-house AI optimization efforts are bearing fruit. In Q2, Family of Apps revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.4 billion as ad impressions increased 14% and average price per ad increased 12%.
Bottom Line
Early data confirms rapid adoption and strong monetization potential for its Muse AI platform. Meta Platforms continues to prove its leadership in agentic AI. Combined with robust top-line growth, double-digit gains in digital advertising revenue, and a highly attractive GARP valuation of just 23x earnings, the recent post-earnings dip to the 10-week moving average presents a compelling, high-probability entry point for long-term investors.
Mark Zuckerberg uvedl, že Threads překonal X v počtu aktivních měsíčních uživatelů, Meta však nezveřejnila žádné potvrzující údaje ani finanční přínos.
Zuckerberg told investors Threads has overtaken X in monthly users, but Meta published no number to back it up, and the company's own financials show no benefit from the lead yet.
Mark Zuckerberg made a claim with no number. On the October 21, 2026 earnings call for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction), he said: “Threads has now overtaken X in monthly actives.”
Meta closed at $697.52, up 0.47%. It then traded at $712.61 after hours, up 2.16% as of 7:59 PM ET. That move reflects the whole quarter, which brought $64.6 billion in revenue, up 26%. Threads played no measurable part in that move.
Inside one of its segments, SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) reports X. It closed at $159.31, up 7.79%, after its own results came out on October 20. After hours, it fell to $156.70, down 1.64%.
Zuckerberg says Threads has more users, but nothing in Meta’s financials shows a return yet, and the two companies’ user numbers also measure different things.
Zuckerberg’s Claim Rests on Numbers Meta Has Not Published The last Threads count Meta reported was 500 million monthly users, announced June 16, 2026. In a September podcast interview, Zuckerberg said Threads was either bigger than X or close to it.
CFO Susan Li said Threads time spent per user grew over 20% year over year. That figure tracks how long each person remains. It tells you nothing about how many people use the app.
Threads benefits from Meta’s distribution. Meta’s apps averaged 3.64 billion daily active people in September 2026, and Threads gets new users from that base through Instagram.
Why Threads and X User Counts Cannot Be Compared Directly SpaceX’s IPO filing put X at about 550 million users as of March 2026 and 520 million as of December 2025, without defining “users.” Both figures are below the 600 million monthly actives X had often claimed.
Third-party estimates track daily mobile users instead. On that measure, Threads first passed X worldwide in the week of September 15 to 21, 2025, at 130.2 million against 130.1 million. It also led in October 2025, at 128.2 million against 124.7 million.
Over that October period, Threads grew 48% while X fell 16%. However, X still drew 141.7 million daily web users, compared with 7.6 million for Threads. X also led among U.S. mobile users, 21.4 million to 16.6 million.
Advertisers pay the most for U.S. users and for desktop audiences, which include many professionals, so a lead in global mobile users is worth less in revenue than the headline suggests.
Users Still Have to Turn Into Advertising Dollars The SpaceX segment, which includes X (now called Super Intelligence), has an advertising line widely reported as X’s ad revenue. That line fell to $367 million in Q2 2026 from $426 million a year earlier. It then rose to $538 million in Q3 from $454 million.
For the first nine months of 2026 it amounted $1.248 billion, still behind $1.323 billion for the same period of 2025. Meta took in $64.6 billion in a single quarter.
Meta’s results do not show any benefit from Threads’ user lead yet, and that will change only if Meta increases ad load on Threads. Ad load is the share of the feed given to ads.
What Meta’s Valuation Means for the Threads Opportunity Meta is worth $1.78 trillion, and its shares fell 5.9% over the past month. That leaves the stock up only 5.93% for the year, even though revenue is growing at 26%.
Threads adds a possible source of upside at that valuation. If Meta puts ads on Threads the way it did on Instagram, the app becomes a revenue line Meta has barely used. If Threads stalls, the core ad business still supports the stock. SpaceX, worth $2.16 trillion, offers limited exposure to social media because X’s ad line is a small part of the company.
Three things would settle the user question. These are Meta publishing a Threads monthly figure, a SpaceX filing with an updated X count, or details on Threads ad revenue on Meta’s fourth-quarter call. If that call passes without a Threads number, Zuckerberg’s claim will likely remain unsupported by Meta’s own data.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Akcie společnosti Meta ve čtvrtek klesly o více než 6 % poté, co firma zvýšila výhled kapitálových výdajů na AI na 135–145 mld. USD a čelila pokutě ve výši 25 mld. USD.
The Tradr 2X Short META Daily ETF (BATS:METQ) is drawing attention among the day’s top-performing ETFs as Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares face pressure following the social media giant’s latest earnings report and fresh legal troubles.
• Meta Platforms stock is taking a hit today. Why is META stock falling?
Meta shares fell more than 6% on Thursday after investors weighed stronger-than-expected revenue against rising artificial intelligence spending, a multibillion-dollar legal charge and a new $25 billion penalty in a data-privacy case. The stock had initially gained following the company’s third-quarter results. Reuters reported that the market was reassessing the cost of Meta’s AI ambitions despite progress in its business.
Why Meta Stock Is Under PressureMeta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion, up 26% year over year and ahead of analysts’ expectations. It also forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $73 billion to $76 billion, above the consensus estimate of $73.57 billion.
However, profitability and cash generation presented a more complicated picture.
The company recorded a $9.89 billion legal charge tied to its settlement with 52 state attorneys general over teen mental health litigation. Operating income fell 37% to $12.99 billion, while free cash flow turned negative at $2.12 billion.
Meta also raised its full-year capital expenditure outlook to $135 billion to $145 billion as it continues investing aggressively in AI infrastructure. Investors must weigh whether future AI-driven advertising growth and new products will generate sufficient returns to justify the spending.
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Adding to the legal overhang, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a separate data-privacy case linked to allegations that the company misled users about its privacy practices.
How METQ Benefits From a Meta Sell-OffMETQ is designed to deliver 200% of the inverse of Meta stock’s daily performance, before fees and expenses. In practical terms, if META falls 1% over a trading day, METQ targets a gain of approximately 2%. If META rises 1%, the fund targets a loss of approximately 2%.
That makes the ETF a potential instrument for traders seeking short-term bearish exposure to Meta without directly shorting its shares. The fund resets its exposure daily, meaning its returns over multiple sessions can differ substantially from twice the inverse of META’s cumulative return.
For example, a 5% decline in META would imply a roughly 10% gain for METQ over that same day, assuming the fund meets its daily objective. Actual returns can differ because of expenses, market movements and tracking effects.
Price AnalysisMETQ ETF shares were up 13.72% at $16.98 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data. This notable increase indicates a strong bullish sentiment among traders, likely driven by recent volatility in the underlying Meta stock, which has been subject to significant market fluctuations.
The current price is positioned 6% below the key technical levels, suggesting that there is potential resistance around the $18 mark. This level has historically served as a psychological barrier, and breaking above it could signal a shift in momentum for METQ.
Trading volume on Thursday reached 1 million shares, reflecting heightened interest and activity in the ETF.
What Traders Should Watch NextThe immediate question is whether Meta’s post-earnings weakness persists or whether investors refocus on accelerating advertising revenue and the company’s AI initiatives, including its Muse products.
METQ’s performance will depend primarily on Meta’s daily share-price moves, rather than on whether the company’s long-term business outlook is improving or deteriorating. A rebound in Meta shares could quickly reverse gains in the inverse ETF.
The fund is therefore best understood as a high-risk, short-term trading vehicle rather than a straightforward way to express a long-term view on Meta. Its daily leverage can amplify losses as well as gains, and volatility can erode returns over longer holding periods.
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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Společnost Meta Platforms ve čtvrtletí zvýšila tržby meziročně o 26,1 % na 64,6 miliardy USD a zisk na akcii dosáhl 7,40 USD, čímž překonal očekávání ve výši 6,54 USD.
BDF Gestion trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 22.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,569 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.3% of BDF Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Horizons Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Revenue and earnings exceeded expectations. Meta reported record quarterly revenue of approximately $64.6 billion, up 26% year over year and above the roughly $63.3 billion consensus estimate. Earnings of $7.40 per share also surpassed analyst expectations near $6.54. The results highlighted continued strength in advertising volume, pricing and monetization. Meta Platforms Tops Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining meaningful traction. Meta said its AI assistant Muse has more than 10 million users, with shopping among the leading activities. Investors see the product as a potential way to increase engagement, improve recommendations and generate additional advertising and commerce revenue across Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion-user ecosystem. Meta Says Muse Has Over 10M Users Positive Sentiment: Analysts view the core business and AI returns favorably. Commentary following the report cited strong ad efficiency, higher engagement and healthy adjusted operating margins, supporting bullish views that Meta’s AI investments are beginning to contribute to the advertising business. Meta Q3 Strong Growth Makes This a Strong Buy Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding AI funding while trying to manage cash pressure. Third-quarter capital expenditures reached about $34.9 billion, and the company raised the low end of its annual spending outlook. A new nonvoting Class C share is intended to help fund the AI buildout without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control, but it introduces potential dilution and reinforces concerns about heavy future investment. Meta to Issue New Class of Shares Negative Sentiment: Legal liabilities remain a major overhang. A $9.9 billion charge tied to a teen social-media lawsuit weighed on reported profit, while a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a separate privacy case. Meta plans to appeal, but the judgment increases regulatory, financial and reputational risks. Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion to New Mexico Negative Sentiment: AI profitability is not yet established. Zuckerberg said Muse carries very high computing costs, and Reality Labs could lose approximately $15 billion next year. These losses may limit free cash flow and keep investors sensitive to whether AI growth ultimately produces returns exceeding the cost of the buildout. Meta CEO Says Muse and Reality Labs Are Unprofitable Negative Sentiment: Insider selling added a modest cautionary signal. COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transactions were scheduled in advance, they are not necessarily a judgment on Meta’s outlook, but they reduce his direct ownership. SEC Insider Ownership Filing Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.20, for a total value of $669,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,233,299.20. The trade was a 13.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Citic Securities lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $811.24.
View Our Latest Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5% META opened at $697.52 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $662.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $629.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.
About Meta Platforms (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.
Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.
Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Meta Platforms GM Beat and Added a $20 Billion Buyback—Why Did the Stock Fall? Intercepting Growth: Karman Secures $218M Lockheed Martin Deal Tech Stocks Took a Hit—These 2 Pharma Stocks Are Near New Highs Chip Stocks Have Pulled Back—Here’s How 3 Semiconductor ETFs Stack Up for Investors Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report).
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Meta ve třetím čtvrtletí zvýšila tržby o 26,1 % na 64,6 miliardy USD a zisk na akcii činil 7,40 USD, což překonalo očekávání analytiků ve výši 6,54 USD.
Baskin Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,212 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.1% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,964,745,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages have commented on META. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (down from $850.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $811.24. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Key Meta Platforms News Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Revenue and earnings exceeded expectations. Meta reported record quarterly revenue of approximately $64.6 billion, up 26% year over year and above the roughly $63.3 billion consensus estimate. Earnings of $7.40 per share also surpassed analyst expectations near $6.54. The results highlighted continued strength in advertising volume, pricing and monetization. Meta Platforms Tops Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining meaningful traction. Meta said its AI assistant Muse has more than 10 million users, with shopping among the leading activities. Investors see the product as a potential way to increase engagement, improve recommendations and generate additional advertising and commerce revenue across Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion-user ecosystem. Meta Says Muse Has Over 10M Users Positive Sentiment: Analysts view the core business and AI returns favorably. Commentary following the report cited strong ad efficiency, higher engagement and healthy adjusted operating margins, supporting bullish views that Meta’s AI investments are beginning to contribute to the advertising business. Meta Q3 Strong Growth Makes This a Strong Buy Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding AI funding while trying to manage cash pressure. Third-quarter capital expenditures reached about $34.9 billion, and the company raised the low end of its annual spending outlook. A new nonvoting Class C share is intended to help fund the AI buildout without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control, but it introduces potential dilution and reinforces concerns about heavy future investment. Meta to Issue New Class of Shares Negative Sentiment: Legal liabilities remain a major overhang. A $9.9 billion charge tied to a teen social-media lawsuit weighed on reported profit, while a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a separate privacy case. Meta plans to appeal, but the judgment increases regulatory, financial and reputational risks. Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion to New Mexico Negative Sentiment: AI profitability is not yet established. Zuckerberg said Muse carries very high computing costs, and Reality Labs could lose approximately $15 billion next year. These losses may limit free cash flow and keep investors sensitive to whether AI growth ultimately produces returns exceeding the cost of the buildout. Meta CEO Says Muse and Reality Labs Are Unprofitable Negative Sentiment: Insider selling added a modest cautionary signal. COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transactions were scheduled in advance, they are not necessarily a judgment on Meta’s outlook, but they reduce his direct ownership. SEC Insider Ownership Filing Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5% META opened at $697.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $662.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $629.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.
About Meta Platforms (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.
Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.
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Anthropic uvedl ve výzkumném náhledu agenta Claude Duet, který má autonomně spravovat e-maily a nákupy; později bude k dispozici předplatitelům tarifů Pro a Max.
Anthropic just put a proactive AI agent on your phone that reads your email and shops for you before you ask, and it is heading straight into territory Meta already claimed with 10 million users. The real fight is over…
Anthropic built its business selling Claude to companies and developers. Now it wants a spot on your phone, where it would manage your inbox and your shopping cart before you ask.
The company has introduced Claude Duet, its first consumer-facing AI agent, as a research preview with a waitlist. It will eventually be available to Pro and Max subscribers.
Duet is a proactive agent. It handles tasks such as shopping and reading email without waiting for you to ask, putting it up against OpenAI’s agents and Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) Muse agent.
Anthropic is coming late. Meta said on October 21, 2026, that more than 10 million people in the US and Canada had already set up Muse.
For investors, the question is who gets the value once every leading lab offers an agent. Meta closed at $697.52. The stock is up 5.93% year to date but down 5.9% over the past month.
Proactive Agents Turn Trust Into the Product
A chatbot answers questions. A proactive agent reads your email and spends your money, so its mistakes cost real dollars.
That makes permissions central. You have to grant account access, and someone has to carry the liability when an agent buys the wrong item.
Anthropic’s safety reputation is likely its best edge. A lab known for care may have an easier time getting access to inboxes and payment cards.
Meta is working on the same problem. Mark Zuckerberg said Meta plans a “Muse Confidential VM,” “which will make it so that even Meta cannot see your content.”
Meta’s Distribution Lead Will Be Hard to Close
Meta’s apps reach 3.64 billion people daily. Duet starts behind a waitlist inside a paid subscription.
In consumer technology, reach usually counts for more than model quality. Zuckerberg said shopping is Muse’s biggest use case, with over a quarter of active users engaging in shopping and an average purchase size above $200.
Meta had to ask Stripe to raise credit limits in the first week. Muse also comes to Meta smart glasses next month.
Switching costs are still low, however. If Duet handles email or purchases better, it could pull users away from free products.
Ads Versus Subscriptions Will Set the Margins
Anthropic plans to make money from paid levels. Meta wants the core product free for most people, with businesses paying commerce fees and power users paying for advanced models.
Shopping agents put search and display advertising at risk, because price-comparison software never scrolls past an ad. Meta wants to take a cut of the transaction instead. It is building an agentic-commerce protocol with partners including Sierra, Walmart, Stripe and Shopify.
Its ad engine pays for all of this. Third-quarter advertising revenue reached $63.06 billion, helped by a 14% rise in ad pricing.
Computing Bills Could Outrun Early Revenue
Agents run around constantly, which increases demand for chips and cloud capacity. Meta’s third-quarter capital expenditures were $34.9 billion, and it expects $135 billion to $145 billion for 2026.
That spending drove quarterly free cash flow to-$2.1 billion. CFO Susan Li said, “We expect total serving costs to rise” as Muse grows.
Meta expects to make Muse more than 10x more cost-efficient within a year, though the data-center expansion behind every leading agent still has to be powered and cooled by someone (we profiled seven of those suppliers in a free report, here). Anthropic has no advertising cash behind it, so subscriptions will have to cover those costs.
Privacy rules, purchase errors, and models becoming interchangeable are risks for every company here. Meta also recorded a $9.89 billion charge tied to a settlement with state attorneys general.
Whether AI Agents Can Pay Off for Investors
The bull case is that agents open new revenue in commerce, subscriptions, and enterprise software. Li said Meta’s new AI businesses could start adding revenue in 2027.
The bear case is cost. Meta’s free cash flow has already gone negative, and Duet adds another well-funded competitor that could push prices down.
On balance, Meta is the clearest listed example of a company already building revenue around AI agents. Revenue grew 26.1% to $64.60 billion while the company paid for Muse, as our live coverage of the quarter showed.
Without the legal charge, EPS would have been $7.40, and the stock trades at a P/E of about 25. It’s worth tracking whether Duet’s waitlist turns into paying users, but Meta’s reach puts it in a stronger position today.
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Meta and its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram are facing a class-action lawsuit in Australia over allegations addictive design features are harming children and teenagers.
The suit filed in the Federal Court on behalf of eight applicants seeks to recover compensation for Facebook and Instagram users who were exposed to harmful content or developed an addiction to social media, law firm Minter Ellison and Litigation Lending said in a statement.
The Federal Court in Sydney issued on Monday a suppression order stopping publication of details of the claim and the identity of the applicants, court documents show.
"We are aware of this claim and we will defend ourselves vigorously," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
Litigation Lending Services said it was funding the class action for Australian families who "would have no practical means of pursuing these claims against a global technology giant."
"This proceeding raises important questions about the design and operation of social media platforms and their impact on children and teenagers in Australia," Minter Ellison partner William Nolan said in a statement.
In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $17.7 billion in the United States to settle claims that it deliberately engineered its platforms to hook young users.
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Soudkyně nařídila nezávislý přezkum přibližně 170 000 dokumentů společnosti Meta, které jsou zadržovány z důvodu advokátního tajemství, a odmítla využití AI k jejich kontrole.
A federal judge blasted Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for using attorney-client privilege to conceal thousands of potentially explosive legal documents related to kids’ social media addiction – stating that she had “never seen a company whose employees are so taken” with exploiting the legal loophole.
The harsh words surfaced during a testy Oct. 9 hearing in California federal court, just a couple of weeks after plaintiffs revealed that Instagram had made swag hats for its employees with the phrase “attorney-client privilege” to celebrate the 2024 launch of Instagram’s Teen Accounts. Critics previously lambasted the hats as an “utterly sick” joke about concealing explosive legal documents.
Instagram made the “attorney-client privilege” hats to celebrate the launch of Instagram Teen Accounts in 2024. In the case in which the hat swag surfaced, a coalition of school districts have accused Meta of fueling a teen mental health crisis.
“I have never seen a company whose employees are so taken with the attorney-client privilege that they’d have caps made,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said during the hearing, according to a transcript obtained by The Post.
Meta attorney Ashley Simonsen fired back at the judge, asserting that the hats had “nothing to do” with “whether outside counsel properly applied the privilege in this case.”
Simonsen appeared to have interrupted the judge with her comment, prompting an irked Gonzalez Rogers to reply, “You need to stop talking when I start whether you like it or not.”
“A further review is required, period,” the judge added.
In a bizarre twist, Gonzalez Rogers also shot down a request by Meta’s Simonsen to use an AI model to speed up review of the withheld documents – asserting that the court couldn’t trust the model to be reliable without more information.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, district judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, attends a panel discussion held by the annual American Bar Association in Washington, DC, in April 2025. AFP via Getty Images “I don’t trust AI, obviously, as much as you do,” the judge said. “The only way that argument would have any legs is if you trained a model on your own, and obviously all of the training would have to be done and disclosed — all of it — and all of the testing.”
Meta and attorneys for the plaintiffs ultimately agreed to jointly abide by the findings of an independent “special master” — retired US Judge Suzanne Segal, who will review the company’s classifications for some 170,000 documents and determine which were properly withheld and which weren’t.
Judge Gonzalez Rodgers approved the process on Wednesday.
In a joint filing on Monday, Meta agreed to go back over an average of 20,000 documents per week that were initially marked as privileged. It was given until Dec. 30 to complete the process.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears at an event. Getty Images Additionally, each week the special master will review a random sample of 200 documents that Meta claims should remained privileged or redacted. She’ll then make a decision on whether the classification is accurate – or if the docs should be turned over to the plaintiffs as requested.
Any company records that the special master determines should be unredacted must be turned over within five days. Meta also has to cover the cost of the review.
As The Post reported last month, online safety advocates were outraged over Meta’s decision to make the “attorney-client privilege” hats for employees – with one group, Fairplay, describing it as “utterly sick.”
“There is nothing funny about the damage Meta has done to kids’ lives,” Fairplay Communications Director Ashwin Verghese said at the time. “It’s good these revelations are coming out, though, so parents and policymakers know exactly how this company operates.”
A 3D-printed Meta logo is seen in this illustration, Monday, July 20, 2026. REUTERS Meta’s critics have argued for years that the company should be more transparent about its internal research and documents detailing the risks that apps like Facebook and Instagram pose to kids.
In one past instance, records from California court showed the company’s own researchers compared Instagram to a “drug” and said they were “basically pushers.”
Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing complex federal multidistrict litigation in California federal court – a bid to streamline thousands of cases that make similar claims about social media addiction and online harm into a few “bellwether” cases to determine the legal merits of their arguments.
In May, Meta reached a settlement with Breathitt County School District in Kentucky to avoid a trial that had been slated to begin in Oakland on June 15. However, thousands more are still pending.
Elsewhere, Meta reached a separate $18 billion settlement with a coalition of 48 state attorneys general In August. As part of that settlement, the company agreed to impose changes such as daily usage limits for teens.
Meta did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meta zavede akcie třídy C bez hlasovacích práv, aby zachovala kontrolu Marka Zuckerberga. Stávajícím akcionářům budou distribuovány v poměru odpovídajícím štěpení akcií v poměru 2:1.
Meta creates a new stock class to keep Zuckerberg in control
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Meta wants to continue its "founder-led model" — so it's creating a new stock class.
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Meta's board wants Mark Zuckerberg to stick around.
The company announced a new category of non-voting Class C stock in its third-quarter earnings report. It listed several reasons for creating the new class — one of which is to keep the CEO in control.
A Special Committee established by Meta's board determined that Zuckerberg was the best fit to lead the company into its future, and highlighted the CEO's creative vision and management abilities.
"The creation of the Class C common stock will continue the founder-led model that has driven the company's success since its inception," Meta said.
The stock class will also provide Meta the ability to finance its growth, the earnings report said. Meta is spending big on AI and the data centers needed to power it. The company reported $34.91 billion in third-quarter capital expenditures.
Meta's press release said the distribution would effectively amount to a two-for-one stock split for existing shareholders. Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, said that the stock will be distributed to existing shareholders.
Other tech companies have issued stock to access new capital without diluting their CEO's voting power. Google performed a stock split in 2012 for a similar reason. Semafor was first to report the new stock class.
Zuckerberg has long been the face of Meta. He's strengthened his leadership through the AI boom, going "startup mode" and getting hands-on with the tech. He even moved his desk closer to the AI team.
The success of Muse, Meta's AI agent, has raised the profile of another Meta executive: Alexandr Wang. The chief AI officer has joined Zuckerberg for podcasts and spoken onstage at keynotes.
A Financial Times profile last week touted Wang as a "potential successor to Zuckerberg." It's clear the board wants Zuckerberg there for the long haul.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Muse and Reality Labs are highly unprofitable — for now
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
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Meta says some of its biggest cash incinerators could finally start turning profits.
The social media giant, which generated over 97% of its quarterly revenue from ads, has faced persistent questions from investors about the lack of profitability in its AI and hardware initiatives.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed those concerns head-on during its third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg said that Muse, the AI assistant it launched last month, is unprofitable since it's "very compute intensive to run." Meta expects to start turning that around next year by massively improving Muse's efficiency.
"If compute efficiency continues improving quickly for another few years, which we think is highly likely, then Muse will be highly profitable over multiple years," he said.
Meta plans to make money from Muse by taking a small transaction fee off of purchases it drives, Zuckerberg said at Meta's Connect conference last month.
Zuckerberg added that Muse, which launched only in the US and Canada, wasn't launched globally due in part to the amount of compute it requires. (Meta's North American users are generally its most lucrative.)
Zuckerberg also struck a positive note about its cash-hemorrhaging Reality Labs division, which makes products like Meta Ray-Bans and virtual reality glasses.
Reality Labs will narrow its losses to about $15 billion in 2027, down from the $18 to $19 billion it expects to lose this year. The division should start trending toward profitability next year, as Meta's AI systems make it more useful, Zuckerberg said.
"I continue to believe that the path to delivering holographic experience, of bringing together the physical and digital worlds and everyday glasses, will come through VR first," Zuckerberg said.
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Meta Platforms nehodlá v masivních investicích do vývoje umělé inteligence polevit, ba naopak. Vedle zveřejnění hospodářských výsledků za třetí čtvrtletí společnost zvýšila výhled kapitálových výdajů a oznámila novou třídu akcií bez hlasovacích práv, čímž si otevírá cestu k novému kapitálu.
Provozovatel Facebooku či Instagramu vygeneroval ve třetím čtvrtletí tržby ve výši 64,6 miliardy dolarů, což bylo meziročně o 26 procent více a zároveň o 1,3 mld. USD více než odhadoval trh. Upravený zisk na akcii činil 3,83 USD, což naopak bylo hluboko pod odhadem Wall Street (5,89 USD).
Společnost slabší EPS zdůvodnila tím, že do něj nezapočítala jednorázový poplatek 9,89 mld. USD související s dohodou s 52 generálními prokurátory ohledně soudního řízení o duševním zdraví teenagerů. Bez poplatku by provozní příjem činil 22,88 mld. USD, zatímco trh očekával 18,66 mld. USD.
Společnost ve své středeční výsledkové zprávě také uvedla, že kapitálové výdaje v letošním roce dosáhnou 135 až 145 miliard dolarů, což je navýšení spodní hranice předchozího výhledu z 130 miliard dolarů.
Vedle toho Meta oznámila vytvoření nové třídy akcií bez hlasovacích práv, která bude rozdělena stávajícím akcionářům formou akciové dividendy. Investoři obdrží jednu novou akcii za každou drženou akcii, což bude v praxi fungovat jako štěpení akcií (stock split) v poměru 2:1. Obchodování s novou třídou akcií by mělo začít v lednu. Meta uvedla, že nové akcie bude využívat k získávání kapitálu, odměňování zaměstnanců a případným akvizicím.
Tyto kroky naznačují, že společnost věří v návratnost svých masivních investic do AI, píše agentura Bloomberg a připomíná, že generální ředitel Mark Zuckerberg měl v minulých letech potíže přesvědčit investory, aby akceptovali rychle rostoucí náklady spojené s ambiciózními projekty v oblasti umělé inteligence. V posledních měsících však Meta podle všeho dosáhla v této oblasti významného pokroku, a to zejména díky úspěšnému vydání AI agenta Muse.
Součástí výsledkové zprávy byl také výhled na čtvrté čtvrtletí. Společnost očekává tržby v rozmezí 73 až 76 miliard dolarů, zatímco analytici oslovení v průměru počítali s 73,6 mld. USD. Výhled tržeb pro fiskální rok 2027 firma neposkytla.??
Akcie Mety reagovaly na výsledky v aftermarketu růstem přibližně o čtyři procenta.
Soud v Novém Mexiku nařídil společnosti Meta zaplatit pokutu ve výši 25 miliard USD za klamání uživatelů ohledně ochrany soukromí a sběru dat v kauze Cambridge Analytica.
Meta was ordered to pay $25 billion in penalties by a New Mexico court on Wednesday as part of a data privacy case that stemmed from the company's Cambridge Analytica scandal from nearly a decade ago.
The penalty, revealed in a court filing, comes after a jury in a Santa Fe courthouse found in September the social media giant liable for misleading state citizens about how it safeguards and collects user data and prevents harmful information from flourishing on its services.
Although the jury concluded that Meta had more than 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices act, with each transgression carrying a civil penalty as high as $5,000, a New Mexico judge was responsible for determining the ultimate fine. The Wednesday filing showed that the state was awarded $219.5 billion, but the penalty was ultimately reduced to $25 billion.
"The extraordinary number of willful violations found by the jury, the duration and repetition of the conduct, the breadth of subjects on which violations occurred, the involvement of senior Facebook leadership, the size of New Mexico audiences reached, and the clear intentional and systematic nature of Facebook's repeated misstatements established in the trial record support the highest level of penalty allowed by the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act - $5,000 per violation found by the jury," New Mexico District Court Judge Francis Mathew wrote in the filing.
The judge added that interest on the penalty shall accrue at the rate of 15% each year until the fine is paid off in full.
"For too long, powerful technology companies have operated as though their size and influence put them beyond the reach of the law," said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez in a statement.
He added that "this penalty order demonstrates that those violations carry real consequences."
Meta chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney criticized the penalty, saying in a statement that the company is "confident" that it will "prevail on appeal."
"This ruling, and the Attorney General's approach to this enforcement, makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico," Mahoney said in the statement. "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online."
Meta previously resolved various Cambridge Analytica-derived data privacy lawsuits across the nation as part of an overarching August settlement of nearly $17 billion with a coalition of state attorneys general in a separate federal case related to child safety and mental health. But because New Mexico was not part of the settlement, the state's data privacy case that arose from Meta's Cambridge Analytica scandal proceeded to trial in September.
In 2022, the social media giant agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that also sprang from the company's Cambridge Analytica scandal that kicked off in 2018. That scandal rocked the Mark Zuckerberg-led company before its official name change to Meta, and focused on allegations that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed the information of 87 million users, raising questions about Facebook's data handling practices.
Mathew said in the filing that "Facebook did not conduct the comprehensive investigation that it promised" following the Cambridge Analytica revelations.
"Pressure from senior executives to keep costs down, lack of adequate enforcement resources, inadequate investigative techniques, and a desire not to create precedent for future investigations," all contributed to what the judge characterized as a "willfully ineffective" internal examination by Facebook, the filing said.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas originally filed the state's Cambridge Analytica-related lawsuit in 2021, while current AG Torrez oversaw the related trial.
Torrez also led his state's child safety-related trial against Meta that resulted in a March jury ruling that the social media company should pay $375 million for violating the state's unfair practices act. A New Mexico judge would later order Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund as part of a second phase of the case that determined the social media firm's actions created a public nuisance.
Meta said it disagreed with that New Mexico ruling and planned to appeal.
Meta’s AI companion, Muse, is now one of only a dozen mobile apps to have reached 10 million U.S. downloads in its first 40 days on the market. According to new data from market intelligence provider Sensor Tower, Muse has seen 10.9 million downloads since its September debut, 10.2 million of which were in the United States.
Only 11 other apps to date have reached this type of post-launch milestone, said Sensor Tower’s Senior Insights Analyst Kara Lee. The most recent of these was Meta’s Threads, back in July 2023.
Other apps that saw this kind of scale were largely mobile games, Lee noted, like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Pokémon GO, and others. Besides Threads, Disney+ was the only other non-game app to make it into the exclusive club.
Meta’s success is tied to the company’s ability to scale its new apps by marketing them across its other services, which it has done with both Threads and Muse. Threads was built on top of Instagram’s social graph, and its content has been integrated into both Facebook and Instagram. However, Muse isn’t only benefiting from Meta’s ability to market the AI agent across its family of apps, which today includes 3.6 billion daily active users; the company is also heavily investing in advertising to drive new users to Muse.
Per Sensor Tower’s data, Meta has allocated 39% of its total advertising spend to market Muse in October, up from 23% last month. In addition, Muse now ranks as the 21st largest brand in the U.S. by advertising impressions this month, up from 73rd in September.
Still, marketing an app and retaining users after the initial shine wears off are two different things. In this case, Muse is seeing better retention rates than its AI competitors like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok.
In the U.S., the app had a 30% retention rate after 7 days and a 23% retention rate after 14 days. By comparison, its rivals saw an average of a 19% 7-day retention rate and a 16% 14-day retention rate, according to the firm’s data.
Muse also hit another milestone that demonstrates active engagement with the AI app. Its daily active users reached 2.5 million for the first time on October 16, a 15% week-over-week increase.
Meta’s latest AI app, which can handle various tasks on users’ behalf, has seen breakout success since its debut. It shot up to No. 1 on the App Store, and, at one point, even outpaced some of the metrics ChatGPT saw following its launch. Its latest milestone sees it topping its rivals again, as ChatGPT saw 3.7 million U.S. downloads in its first 40 days on the market. Grok and Claude saw only 500,000 and 200,000 U.S. downloads, respectively, in their first 40 days.
Globally, ChatGPT beat out Muse, having scaled to around 15 million global downloads in its first 40 days. But this isn’t a fair comparison, as ChatGPT benefited from a wider reach. Muse is only available in the U.S. and Canada for now, while ChatGPT’s app attracted attention from markets like Japan, Brazil, and Germany, too. (Japan, for instance, accounted for 25% of its global installs during its first 40 days.)
Since launching, Muse has retained its No. 1 rank on the U.S. App Store for all days except October 19, when streaming app Kick briefly beat it out. It has since reclaimed the top spot as of Tuesday. Muse has also been No. 1 on Google Play over the past 30 days.
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Šéf globálních vztahů ve společnosti Meta Platforms Joel Kaplan příští rok po 15 letech odejde. Jeho agendu převezme prezidentka a místopředsedkyně Dina Powell McCormick.
Meta Platforms' (META.O) chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan will leave the company next year after 15 years there, a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick will add external affairs to her portfolio, the spokesperson said.
The move comes ahead of the November 3 midterm elections
McCormick was part of the Donald Trump administration during his first stint as US president
Kaplan was elevated to Meta's top policy role in January last year, as the social media giant rolled back US fact-checking, ended diversity initiatives and sought closer ties with Trump
A longtime Republican strategist, Kaplan served as deputy chief of staff for policy in the administration of George W. Bush
Meta is among the tech companies facing questions over AI's impacts, as concerns mount over safety and the industry’s growing footprint among local communities
Trump recently said tech executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, had agreed to establish voluntary AI standards
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have led this bull market over the past three years, pushing the S&P 500 to record highs. Investors were eager to get in on this promising technology early on, and in many cases, they've already greatly benefited. For example, chip designers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, as well as cloud companies like Alphabet, have seen revenue and stock performance march higher.
In recent weeks, though, AI stocks have faced various headwinds, from general concerns about the economy to questions about AI spending. The spending issue has emerged as a key risk: If the revenue opportunity doesn't match these companies' spending levels, their earnings and stock performance could suffer.
Considering this, investors are seeking clues about the future AI opportunity. And they might gather some on Oct. 21, after the market closes. For this reason, my prediction is that this day and the one to follow might be huge for the stock market. Let's find out exactly what's on the agenda and zoom in on the details.
Image source: Getty Images.
Earnings season for tech giantsSo, what's happening on Oct. 21? The first of the "Magnificent Seven" companies involved in the AI race is set to report third-quarter earnings. These companies are Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms (META -0.55%), Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. Earnings season kicked off earlier this month, with reports from financial companies, and as of this week, the biggest tech companies will begin reporting.
And the company to kick things off is Meta. You might best associate this tech giant with social media, due to its ownership of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. These are among the world's most popular social media apps, with 3.6 billion people using at least one every day. They also have been the major driver of revenue for Meta, with advertisers paying to access space across these apps.
META Meta Platforms$705.44-$3.89 (-0.55%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/19/26
In the latest quarter, this generated a 28% gain in total revenue to $60 billion, with ad revenue making up $59 billion. And over time, this revenue stream has pushed earnings higher.
In recent years, though, Meta broadened its focus to include AI -- and it's betting heavily that this business will be a major part of its future earnings opportunity. Meta has spent billions of dollars on data center build-out, the development of its own large language models, and the hiring of a rock-solid team of AI experts to lead the way.
Investing in AI infrastructureAs this started to unfold, some investors worried about the levels of investment, and this weighed on Meta's stock performance during certain moments of the AI story. Meta's capital spending-to-revenue ratio, a metric measuring the revenue reinvested into assets, has reached about 35%. And considering Meta's AI ambitions, this ratio could continue to climb.
META CAPEX to Revenue (Annual) data by YCharts
On Wednesday, as Meta's fresh earnings report unfolds, investors will be looking to see how much capex might grow in the quarters to come and, importantly, whether this spending is translating into growth for Meta. This may offer us clues about the earnings opportunity ahead for this particular company, and it also might provide a few early hints about what to expect from other "Magnificent Seven" companies when they report earnings in the coming days.
There's reason to be optimistic, considering Meta recently launched a key product, its personal AI agent Muse -- and downloads reached record levels. Though these have been free downloads, the app also offers subscriptions for those who aim to use it more. This represents Meta's initial attempts to monetize its AI investments.
Any positive trends noted by Meta could boost the stock and could also lift other AI shares as investors anticipate more good news from other tech giants in the days to come. All of this may happen as early as Thursday, the first trading session after the report. And given AI stocks' major role in stock market movement, Meta's report could offer the S&P 500 direction in the days to come.
Meta tvrdí, že její model Muse Wonder Full patří mezi špičkové AI modely: v indexu Artificial Analysis získal 56 bodů, což je druhý nejvyšší výsledek, o který se dělí s Claude Sonnet 5.5.
Magnificent Seven company Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META recently made a landmark statement related to its artificial intelligence journey.
Meta Platforms Today
$709.33 -27.39 (-3.72%)
As of 10/16/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
$520.26▼
$779.820.30%
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The company claims that Muse Wonder, its latest model family, is frontier-class, putting it in the same territory as models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic.
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This marks the first time Meta has framed its Muse models as among the most intelligent available. And, investors don’t just have to take Meta’s word for it; model evaluation sites provide third-party validation of this claim.
As Meta looks to improve AI monetization over time, developing a leading-class model could be a key benefit the firm has historically lacked.
Meta’s New Muse Models Move Up in Frontier Ranking HierarchyApproximately 14 months ago, Meta began to “overhaul” its AI efforts. This overhaul included launching Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) and hiring Alexandr Wang to lead the division. Before this, investors saw Meta’s Llama models as lagging far behind the frontier, leaving them with limited confidence in the company’s ability to compete with other LLM developers.
By April 2026, MSL released its first model, Muse Spark. Although the firm noted that Muse Spark was its most powerful model yet, the company framed it as being “competitive” rather than pushing the frontier of model development. With the release of Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, that framing has changed.
Meta now notes that the Muse Wonder models “deliver state-of-the-art performance on personal and professional agentic tasks.” Data from the model evaluation site, Artificial Analysis, supports Meta’s assessment and highlights a significant jump in performance compared to its previous model, Muse Spark 1.3.
On its Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the evaluator gives Muse Wonder Full a score of 56. This ties for the second-highest score of any model, with Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 5.5 also scoring 56. Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 has the highest score at 58. Muse Wonder Full notably ranks above OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra and Alphabet’s NASDAQ: GOOGL Gemini 4 Argon, which both have scores of 53. Meanwhile, Muse Wonder scores slightly lower at 52.
With Muse Wonder Full and Muse Wonder both ranking in this upper echelon, Artificial Analysis’s data supports the idea that Meta now has frontier-class models in its hands. The firm also notes a significant jump in the capabilities of these models compared to Muse Spark 1.3, which has a score of 48.
Meta Raises Model Prices, Keeps Muse Wonder Full Behind Subscription WallInterestingly, Muse Wonder comes with a hefty price increase versus Muse Spark 1.3. On their max settings, Muse Wonder’s cost per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task is $4.52, or 2.8 times higher than Muse Spark 1.3’s cost of $1.60. This is still meaningfully below the cost per task of Anthropic’s most intelligent models, but also significantly higher than OpenAI and Alphabet’s top models. The increase suggests that Meta believes the model’s improved capabilities justify a higher price.
On the other hand, the more powerful Muse Wonder Full is only available through $50 per month and $200 per month subscriptions to Muse Code, not on a per-token basis. This suggests that Meta primarily wants to position Muse Wonder Full as being for agentic coding tasks, while Muse Wonder is more for general-purpose usage. It also suggests that Meta hopes to build a more stable, subscription-based revenue stream by keeping Muse Wonder Full behind this gate.
Additionally, by keeping Muse Wonder Full access to only Muse Code subscribers, it gives software developers a reason to try Muse Code. This could help Meta position Muse Code as a competitor to Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex. Still, only time will tell whether software developers actually stick with Muse Code rather than experimenting with it for a short time.
Meta notes that Muse Wonder will soon power more of its Muse agent. As the company looks to scale this product, Muse Wonder’s improved capabilities could improve user experiences and aid demand.
Meta Releases a Flurry of Products With Q3 Earnings on the HorizonMeta has demonstrated the ability to significantly improve its models in a relatively short time. This bodes well for the company’s ability to continue competing with other model developers on frontier intelligence and to scale its non-advertising AI revenue. However, up to this point, Meta’s non-ad AI potential has yet to meaningfully translate into its financial results.
The Muse agent, the Meta Enterprise Platform, Muse Code, and now the Muse Wonder model releases should make Meta’s future earnings calls more interesting. Investors should look for signs of strong early adoption and, over time, a contribution to revenue growth. Meta’s next earnings report is quickly approaching, slated for Oct. 21 after the market close.
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Meta odstranila ze smluvních podmínek ustanovení, které vyvolalo obavy z využívání obsahu webových stránek k trénování AI. Uvedla, že změna nemění používání webových crawlerů.
Meta recently updated its commercial terms of use, declaring that the company can “use any content from [a business account’s] domains, web pages, or URLs to provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain the integrity of” Meta products and services.
According to legal experts interviewed by Nieman Lab, this looked like a “remarkable provision” that could give Meta permission to scrape the website of any publisher with a Meta business account and use the content to train the company’s AI models. (While Meta defeated a high-profile lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement last year, other cases against AI companies, including Meta, continue.)
However, a Meta spokesperson insisted that the updated terms did not reflect a change in the way Meta crawls the web. And now, The Verge reports that the provision has been removed.
“We’ve heard you and want to clarify: the crawling terms we consolidated only applied to our ads and business products, and we’ve clarified that in the terms themselves,” the company said in a statement. “It does not change how Meta uses web crawlers.”
Meta plánuje v roce 2026 kapitálové výdaje na AI ve výši 130–145 miliard USD, zatímco volný peněžní tok ve druhém čtvrtletí klesl z 8,55 miliardy USD na 784 milionů USD.
Meta is pouring over $130 billion into AI infrastructure while free cash flow craters and legal bills pile up, yet analyst sentiment sits near its most bullish in years. Here is what a steady monthly stake could turn into if…
Instead of trying to time Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction), you could put $1,000 into the stock every month for the next five years. Meta shares traded at $744.34 in early trading today. That’s up 3.57% on the session and 13.95% over the past month.
The forward look matters because Meta is spending heavily on AI right now, and the next five years will show whether that spending pays off.
Your $60,000 Could Grow to About $86,252 in the Base Case
Over five years, $1,000 a month adds up to $60,000 invested. Our base-case model has Meta compounding at 14.49% a year. At that rate, the monthly plan could be worth about $86,251.91 in five years, meaning you’d earn 43.75% on the money you put in.
That figure rests on a five-year base-case share price target of $1,413.93. That’s a 96.74% gain from the model’s initial price of $718.67.
A monthly plan makes less than that headline gain because the money goes in gradually: your last few deposits have only weeks to grow. The stake figures assume each $1,000 is invested at the start of the month and grows steadily at the model’s annualized rate in each scenario. They leave out dividends, taxes and fees.
Bull, Base and Bear: What Your Monthly Plan Could Become
Scenario
5-Year Price Target
Stock Total Return
Annualized Return
Ending Value of $1,000/Month
Return on $60,000 Invested
Bull
$1,701.59
136.77%
18.81%
$95,886.08
59.81%
Base
$1,413.93
96.74%
14.49%
$86,251.91
43.75%
Bear
$940.84
30.91%
5.54%
$69,021.40
15.04%
The model rates its confidence at 0.9, a high reading. Over the next 12 months, its base-case target is $905.42, with a range of $774.02 in the bear case to $1,040.03 on the bullish side.
Wall Street’s consensus target is $799. Analyst ratings lean strongly bullish: 8 Strong Buy, 47 Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell.
Three Engines Behind the Upside
AI Is Lifting the Ad Machine
Second-quarter revenue reached $60.80 billion, up 27.96% year over year and above the $60.29 billion consensus. Meta grew on both volume and price: ad impressions rose 14% and the average price per ad climbed 12%.
Its Advantage Plus automated ad tools have passed $75 billion in annual revenue run rate. On the earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg said “We are now at a point where our investments in AI are accelerating every major part of our core business.”
New Revenue Streams Are Emerging
More than 1 million businesses use Meta’s AI business agents every week to talk to customers or close sales. Family of Apps other revenue exceeded $1 billion in a quarter for the first time, growing 73% on the back of WhatsApp paid messaging and subscriptions. Meta also launched its MetaOne subscription and a model API, both of which add income that doesn’t depend on ads.
Scale and Profitability
Meta reaches 3.60 billion daily active people across its apps. It also runs at an 82% gross margin with a 30.24% return on equity. Management expects 2026 operating income to exceed 2025 levels.
What Could Sink Your Monthly Plan
The spending bill is huge. Meta’s guidance calls for 2026 capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion, the kind of AI infrastructure outlay that keeps the picks-and-shovels suppliers busy (we rounded up seven of them, from power to cooling, which you can read here: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom).
That pressure is already visible: second-quarter free cash flow fell to $784 million from $8.55B a year earlier. Diluted EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.2214 consensus by 14.42%, and operating margin contracted to 31% from 43%. Legal charges of $2.40 billion and severance costs of $1.18 billion drove much of that miss.
Management has noted several youth-related U.S. trials that could lead to material losses. In Europe, regulators are pushing back on Meta’s Less Personalized Ads offering.
Reality Labs lost $19.2B in fiscal 2025, and Meta still gets nearly all of its revenue from advertising, so a recession would hit it directly. The model’s bear case still ends with a gain, but real-world results can fall below every projected scenario, including a loss on the money you invest.
Where Your $1,000 a Month Could Land
Under the model’s scenarios, $1,000 a month in Meta for five years grows to between $69,021.40 and $95,886.08, with the central scenario at $86,251.91 on $60,000 invested.
Investing monthly spreads your purchase prices across the stock’s swings, but it can’t guarantee a gain. Track the stock around each earnings report for progress on capex returns, margins and legal results. These figures are estimates, not investment advice.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Analytici čekají, že Meta Platforms ve 3. čtvrtletí vykáže tržby 63,18 mld. USD, meziročně o 23,3 % více, zatímco zisk na akcii klesne o 8 % na 6,67 USD.
In its upcoming report, Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) is predicted by Wall Street analysts to post quarterly earnings of $6.67 per share, reflecting a decline of 8% compared to the same period last year. Revenues are forecasted to be $63.18 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 23.3%.
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.5% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This reflects how the analysts covering the stock have collectively reevaluated their initial estimates during this timeframe.
Before a company announces its earnings, it is essential to take into account any changes made to earnings estimates. This is a valuable factor in predicting the potential reactions of investors toward the stock. Empirical research has consistently shown a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.
While it's common for investors to rely on consensus earnings and revenue estimates for assessing how the business may have performed during the quarter, exploring analysts' forecasts for key metrics can yield valuable insights.
In light of this perspective, let's dive into the average estimates of certain Meta Platforms metrics that are commonly tracked and forecasted by Wall Street analysts.
Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Revenue- Advertising' should arrive at $61.81 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +23.4%.
Analysts predict that the 'Revenue- Other' will reach $1.13 billion. The estimate points to a change of +63.3% from the year-ago quarter.
The consensus estimate for 'Revenue- Family of Apps (FoA)' stands at $62.87 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +23.8%.
It is projected by analysts that the 'Revenue- Reality Labs' will reach $454.08 million. The estimate points to a change of -3.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Analysts expect 'Advertising Revenue- US & Canada' to come in at $27.64 billion. The estimate points to a change of +29.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Analysts' assessment points toward 'Geographical Revenue by User- US & Canada' reaching $28.05 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +28.9% from the prior-year quarter.
The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Geographical Revenue by User- Asia-Pacific' of $12.57 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +22.4% from the prior-year quarter.
According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Advertising Revenue- Rest of the World' should come in at $8.30 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +24.7%.
The average prediction of analysts places 'Geographical Revenue by User- Rest of World' at $8.80 billion. The estimate points to a change of +26.6% from the year-ago quarter.
The consensus among analysts is that 'Advertising Revenue- Europe' will reach $14.81 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +22.7% from the prior-year quarter.
The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Headcount' will likely reach 69,873 . The estimate compares to the year-ago value of 78,450 .
Analysts forecast 'Family daily active people (DAP)' to reach $3.65 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $3.54 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
View all Key Company Metrics for Meta Platforms here>>>
Over the past month, shares of Meta Platforms have returned +8% versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +2.4% change. Currently, META carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggesting that its performance may align with the overall market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Meta spustila Meta Enterprise Platform, aby prostřednictvím agenta umělé inteligence Muse pronikla do firemního sektoru a diverzifikovala své příjmy, z nichž nyní téměř všechny pocházejí z reklamy.
Meta Platforms (META) grabbed the artificial intelligence spotlight by unveiling an AI chatbot that quickly became a hit among consumers. Meta's Muse — with its cute, fuzzy mascot named Jolly — jumped quickly up the rankings of the most downloaded apps, carrying Meta stock sharply higher along with it.
But that probably won't propel Meta to the lead of the AI race unless it can also grab a chunk of the megatrend's most important market: corporations and other big organizations.
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That's what Meta is clearly gunning for with Meta Enterprise Platform, launched less than three weeks after Muse.
It's a tough market to break into as Meta faces entrenched competitors, including Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet's Google (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM) and Oracle (ORCL). But with top AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic making a big push to capture enterprise spending, Meta does not appear content to wait on the sidelines.
The stakes are high for Meta and its stockholders. "Bottom line, they want to compete with the frontier labs," Mizuho analyst Lloyd Walmsley told Investor's Business Daily. "They want to have a model that competes head-to-head and they want to compete for this business."
And the world of business is where the money is in the AI race. "Enterprises are actually parting with dollars to use AI, and consumers are much slower to make this jump," Morningstar analyst Malik Ahmed Khan told IBD.
Meta Stock: Killer Use Cases
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's new enterprise plan could help the company generate returns from the hundreds of billions of dollars it is spending to develop AI models. The company touted its most recent model — Muse Wonder, introduced Monday — as its most powerful yet.
"Traditionally, Meta hasn't been an enterprise company, but we believe that a huge part of the challenge is building the leading models in the first place," Zuckerberg said in an Oct. 12 episode of the "Cheeky Pint" podcast.
He believes "a lot of enterprises" will want to use Muse Wonder.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Meta Connect in September. (AP)
Getting enterprises hooked into Meta's AI models could diversify a company that derives nearly all its revenue from social media advertising.
Beyond diversification, the Meta pivot underlines the importance of the enterprise market in the AI race.
Menlo Ventures estimates that consumers will directly spend $40 billion on AI-related services this year. That includes subscriptions and fees based on overall usage. Analysts expect that, similar to social media, revenue from consumer-focused AI will come from advertising sales. Referral fees from e-commerce sales could also drive revenue.
Enterprises, however, are far more likely to pay for AI directly. Analysts at Gartner forecast enterprises will spend $461 billion on AI-powered software this year.
"If you think about killer use cases thus far for AI, including coding, they're mostly geared toward enterprises," Morningstar's Khan said.
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Meta Scores A Hit With Muse
Launched Sept. 8, Muse is built around a chat function with its cuddly avatar, Jolly. Users can rename and even redesign the mascot. From there, Muse can connect with other apps (such as email, Instagram and calendars) and complete automated tasks when given a goal or objective, like "organize my inbox."
The chatbot has been downloaded more than 9 million times in the U.S., according to data from Sensor Tower. It reached that milestone in just a third of the time it took ChatGPT after its late 2022 launch.
The buzz around the app has put Meta stock back in focus on Wall Street, after fears about its AI spending weighed on shares for much of the year. Meta rallied 27% in September, the stock's best month in more than three years.
Muse's early success marks progress toward Zuckerberg's vision of offering "personal superintelligence" to billions of consumers. But Meta took that a step further on Sept. 28 when Zuckerberg unveiled what he called the "next major pillar" of Meta's business.
Meta's Enterprise Game Plan
"Meta Enterprise Platform will use our strengths that few other companies have: advanced models, leading agents, large-scale infrastructure, and years of working closely with many businesses," Zuckerberg wrote on Threads. "Initially, we will focus on bringing our full technology stack, including the Muse agent, Meta Business Agent, Muse API, Muse Code, and more to businesses and developers to help them grow."
CJ Desai, Meta's first chief enterprise platform officer (Meta)
Zuckerberg is throwing down the gauntlet as the quest begins. To lead the effort, he lured Chirantan "CJ" Desai from his CEO post at MongoDB (MDB). Desai has strong enterprise credentials, with prior roles as president of product and engineering at Cloudflare (NET) and chief operating officer at ServiceNow (NOW).
The same week, Meta announced a Muse for Small Business offering designed to allow entrepreneurs to tap into the AI agent's processing power to accomplish goals.
Meta's AI Overhaul
The enterprise push comes as Meta has muscled its way back into the AI arms race. For much of the past three years, the AI large language models produced by Meta have lagged the performance of the frontier AI labs such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
Zuckerberg last year initiated a drastic overhaul that saw the company spend billions to recruit top researchers.
On Oct. 12, Meta released a new Muse Wonder family of AI models that Zuckerberg said bring Meta "to the frontier." But even before that release, there was evidence that Meta was capitalizing on a new element of the AI race: the harness.
Agents rely on two main layers: the large language model and a so-called harness that essentially hooks that model up to a computer and instructs it on how to complete tasks.
"The model is important and how intelligent it is is important," Willy Lee, a principal at investment firm Neostellar, told IBD. "But how you develop the harness — the instructions and protocols for what the model should do — is almost as important as the model itself."
Muse has caught on with consumers despite not initially offering access to a top AI model. It has just enough AI firepower behind it to handle tasks like canceling underused subscriptions or building a shopping list.
Meta AI Agent Competition
Competition is heating up. Weeks after Meta launched Muse, OpenAI unveiled Dots at its annual developer conference. It has a similar cutesy avatar that is designed to automatically complete tasks based on a user's objectives. While Muse has a free tier that allows users to accomplish most tasks, Dots requires users to have at least the $100-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan.
Meanwhile, Google announced Gemini Agents, which can accomplish tasks across Google Workspace plans and connect with other apps like Slack and Microsoft 365.
Microsoft introduced an updated Copilot AI assistant in late September that combines AI chat, coding tools and autonomous agents into a single product.
Anthropic has not announced a direct competitor to the Muse and Dots personal assistants. However, the AI startup recently merged its agentic CoWork tool into the broader Claude chat interface.
Other competitors for personal AI agents include SpaceX's (SPCX) Grok Bot, which the company describes as "AI teammates" in the workplace. Meanwhile, startup Instinct has gained traction among tech power-users for its ability to act as a personal assistant within text messages, personal calendars and emails.
Meta Stock: 97% Of Revenue From Ads
The early success of Muse offers a chance for Meta to find a second significant source of revenue, something that has proved challenging over its two decades in business.
Analysts project Meta's digital advertising business will drive 97% of its $254 billion in 2026 revenue, according to FactSet. With the dominance of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp offerings, analysts also project Meta will surpass Google as the top digital ad platform by year's end.
But its reliance on a single business, profitable as it may be, makes Meta stand out among its fellow hyperscaler cloud giants. Meta plans up to $145 billion in capital spending this year, focused on constructing data centers. That puts its spending not far behind that of Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
But unlike other hyperscalers, Meta does not rent out its cloud-computing capacity to other enterprises. The chips and servers in its data centers are dedicated to Meta's Family of Apps and its more than 3.5 billion users, as well as its AI efforts.
Amazon, Microsoft and Google have massive businesses renting cloud servers. And from those businesses, they offer a range of hardware and software products. Amazon's cloud business and Google's cloud business are each on track to deliver about one-fifth of their respective company's 2026 revenue, according to analyst projections.
Meanwhile, Meta's most prominent attempt to diversify its revenue — hardware sales from the metaverse — has gained little traction. AI-powered smart glasses and newly introduced subscription fees for Muse and premium Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook features could help diversify Meta's revenue.
But enterprise may prove the clearest opportunity.
Meta Stock: Sizing Up The Opportunity
Analysts will be looking for further details on Zuckerberg's vision when the company reports earnings on Oct. 21.
Wall Street is bullish on Muse's growth potential overall. In a recent client note, Truist analyst Youssef Squali forecast that Muse could drive $28.5 billion in annual revenue by 2030, with enterprise-related revenue contributing $5.2 billion of that projected spending. That includes revenue from developers building projects through the Muse API.
Squali sees Muse subscriptions driving $10.7 billion in revenue by 2030 and advertising and commerce transaction fees reaching $12.7 billion.
Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak expects Meta's enterprise business will see a "slow ramp" as it builds up trust, he wrote in a recent note for clients. But he forecasts Meta's enterprise revenue could reach $11 billion by 2030.
Zuckerberg's enterprise announcement also highlighted the Meta Business Agent, which the company made generally available in June.
The agent acts as AI-powered customer support within WhatsApp, Instagram and the Messenger app. Zuckerberg told analysts earlier this year that the company's paid messaging services had crossed a $2 billion annual revenue run rate by the end of 2025, despite only being offered in certain markets.
Meta Stock: Focus For Enterprise
One big question is whether Meta will focus on big corporations or small and midsize businesses, which make up a big chunk of its biggest advertising buyers.
"They already have a deep relationship with millions of SMBs buying Facebook ads and Instagram ads," Mizuho's Walmsley told IBD. "I think that is viewed as a more natural entry to selling cloudlike services or AI compute."
But Zuckerberg recruiting Desai from MongoDB suggests Meta has ambition "far beyond the SMB side," Walmsley noted.
Yet he does not expect Meta to aim to build a business as broad as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. Rather, the focus will likely be on offering intelligence-driven services similar to those of Anthropic and OpenAI.
"Selling access to their models, the API business, Muse Code — that is the sort of thing that could scale very quickly without having all the traditional trappings of an enterprise tech company," Walmsley said.
Meta's Previous Enterprise Attempts
Meta tried to enter the enterprise market before. In 2016, the company launched Workplace, a Facebook-like messaging and file-sharing platform focused on businesses. But Meta shut that business down with little fanfare in 2024.
Forrester analyst Naveen Chhabra said it takes time to build credibility among enterprise buyers. Amazon Web Services was founded 24 years ago. Google Cloud is 18 years old.
"A social media platform can have a much faster adoption curve," Chhabra told IBD. "As a consumer, I don't have much investment in adopting a platform. When it comes to enterprise adoption, it has to go through several facets internally."
Google had to steadily build up its range of services to address what enterprise buyers need.
"It takes a lot of preparation to be ready to sell to those audiences," Chhabra added. "Not to say it can't be done, but it cannot be an overnight success."
Trust is also key. This could be a challenge for Meta given scandals over its data practices, including the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Performance Of Software Stocks
Still, Meta's enterprise push rattled the enterprise software world.
Software stocks, led by MongoDB, took a hit after Zuckerberg announced his enterprise vision in late September. The reaction brought flashbacks to the fears about AI's impact on software that dominated earlier this year.
But Neostellar's Lee said the broader conversation has shifted from fears that "large language models are going to eat the entire world" to a focus on the "haves and have-nots" of the software sector.
Companies with years of enterprise data and deep integrations into operating systems have a "right to win" in providing the new harness layer for AI systems, he added.
After opening the year on a 30% slide, the software-dominated iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) has bounced back to a 5% year-to-date gain.
IBD's Computer-Software Enterprise stock group now ranks sixth out of 142 industries, based on six-month price performance. The massive 115-stock group includes a number of stocks with Relative Strength Ratings above 95, putting them in the top 5% of stocks based on performance in the last 12 months. They include Twilio (TWLO), Snowflake (SNOW) and Cloudflare.
Meta Stock: Earnings Preview
Meta will release its third-quarter results on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet project that Meta's earnings will come in at $6.67 per share, a huge jump from the $1.05 per share Meta posted in the September quarter last year. However, earnings would have been $7.25 per share in Q3 2025 without a large one-time tax charge.
While Meta is historically a strong earnings performer, its big AI spending has weighed on its finances. Earnings declined 13% for Meta in Q2. The tech giant has an EPS Rating of 83 out of 99. IBD's EPS Rating takes into account the growth and stability of a company's earnings over three years, with extra weighting for the most recent two quarters.
Analysts project Meta's revenue will grow 23.6% to $63.3 billion, according to FactSet. That would mark a deceleration from the 28% growth Meta attained in Q2 and 33% in Q1.
Meta Stock Technical Analysis
While the quick adoption of Meta's Muse AI assistant app powered a huge stock-price gain last month, Meta then pulled back 4% over the first two weeks of October. However, shares rallied following the rollout of Muse Wonder on Oct. 12. They currently trade near 736.
After falling 3% Wednesday, Meta stock appears to be finding support at its 21-day moving average in Thursday's trades. Shares have a Relative Strength Rating of 80, up from 60 four weeks ago.
Further, Meta stock is in a massive 60-week consolidation pattern, as identified by IBD MarketSurge. Meta shares are chasing a record high of 796.23 reached in August 2025, which also serves as a buy point from the consolidation base.
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Meta letos investuje 145 mld. USD do datových center pro umělou inteligenci; příjmy z předplatného služby Muse s odhadovanými 3 miliony týdenních uživatelů tyto náklady pravděpodobně nepokryjí.
By all early accounts, Meta Platforms' (META +0.51%) new Muse AI agent is a huge success. The app has an estimated 3 million weekly users and has been at the top of Apple's (AAPL +0.46%) App Store for several weeks.
Meta shareholders have driven the company's stock up more than 20% since Muse launched, optimistic that the company has figured out how to monetize AI.
Call me a skeptic, but I'm not sold on the idea that Muse will be the catalyst some investors hope for. For one, Meta will burn through $145 billion in AI data center spending this year. Even selling a heck of a lot of Muse subscriptions won't come close to recouping those costs.
Secondly, virtually every major tech company is moving in the same agentic AI direction. The market is already getting crowded, and it's just getting started.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Cheap AI doesn't exist
Muse is free to use with a limited number of AI tokens, and there are two paid tiers: $20/month (5 million weekly tokens) and $100/month (3 billion weekly tokens). Those prices align with what most AI companies charge for their monthly AI services right now, but the problem for Meta (and likely its rivals, too) is that these subscriptions won't come anywhere close to offsetting AI expenses.
As mentioned, Meta is spending $145 billion to build AI data centers this year, and some analysts think it could spend even more next year. Recouping those costs through subscriptions will be nearly impossible. That's especially when you consider that Muse is a consumer product, not an enterprise product like many other AI agents. Enterprise products can generate significant revenue because companies have larger budgets than consumers and are more willing to stick with the same service for longer.
Microsoft and Alphabet both recently grew cloud revenue rapidly, thanks mostly to selling cloud-based AI services to companies. Meta isn't a cloud company, and that's sort of the problem. Meta is investing similar amounts of money in AI data centers as its peers but doesn't have enterprise products to offset its high costs.
Meta recently launched Muse for Small Business, but it's more of a workflow automation tool (allowing Muse to connect to a Canva subscription) than the robust tools Anthropic and OpenAI offer. Making matters worse for Meta is that it's very likely that even its current subscription prices aren't high enough to match the amount of AI tokens users are spending.
For $100/month, Muse users (Musers?) receive 3 billion tokens per week. But the total amount of tokens a user gets often exceeds the value of what they pay for them. Earlier this year, a SemiAnalysis report found that a $200/month ChatGPT subscription actually gives a user $14,000 worth of AI tokens. For Claude, $200 essentially gets you $8,000 worth of tokens.
In short, AI companies are heavily discounting their products. A similar disparity is likely occurring with Muse's token costs versus its subscription price, which isn't ideal when it's spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI.
META Meta Platforms$741.30+$3.76 (+0.51%)
NASDAQ · As of 1:25 PM ET 10/15/26
The consumer-side competition will heat up, too
The other problem I think Meta will face with Muse is that, very soon, it probably won't be a unique product. While Meta beat many of its rivals to the punch in offering a consumer-first personal AI agent that can accomplish useful everyday tasks, it certainly won't be the last. Apple has already inched closer to this area with its newest version of Siri.
And while Siri can't yet book hotels or shop online for you, it likely could soon. If it does, Apple could eventually have the upper hand in this space because of its focus on consumer privacy.
Even with Muse's popularity, Meta consumers don't have much trust in the company's privacy practices. A recent Oppenheimer survey found that just 8% of respondents said they'd trust Meta with their passwords, compared with 30% for Alphabet and 23% for Apple (which took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots).
Even if Muse successfully fends off the competition for a while, it doesn't change the fact that Meta is burning through piles of cash. And with the company still generating the vast majority of its $200 billion in annual revenue from advertising, Muse's subscriptions aren't likely to make much of a dent in Meta's sales either.
Sedm demokratických senátorů žádá Marka Zuckerberga o vysvětlení, jak společnost Meta během tří let využila federální výzkumné daňové kredity, které snížily její federální daňovou povinnost o více než 6,6 miliardy USD; podle zveřejněných zpráv se podstatná část zřejmě týká výstavby datových center pro AI.
Seven Senate Democrats want Mark Zuckerberg to explain how building AI data centers qualifies as frontier research, and the answer could reshape the tax math behind every major technology company's infrastructure ambitions.
Seven Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee wrote to Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on October 14, 2026. Their question goes to the center of the AI spending boom: does building data centers count as research?
The letter was led by ranking member Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Peter Welch of Vermont was among the signers. It says Meta cut its federal tax bill by over $6.6 billion in three years using research credits, and it asks for a reply by October 31.
Meta closed down 3.27% at $737.54, for a $1.88 trillion market value. That drop came during a broad technology selloff, so the letter does not explain it. For shareholders, the open question is whether the after-tax return on a $130 billion to $145 billion capital budget for 2026 actually depends on a subsidy written for laboratory work.
What the Senators Asked For and What They Left Unsaid
The letter requests information. It makes no finding of wrongdoing and has no enforcement power behind it, and the senators hedge their own central claim:
“While it remains unclear exactly how Meta was able to reduce its federal tax liability by over $6.6 billion in the last three years using federal research credits, it appears from published reports that a substantial share is by claiming the research credit related to its massive AI data center build-out.”
They wrote that the credit exists for “U.S. innovation and frontier research, not routine commercial expenses,” and cited one measure under which Meta could account for “more than 10% of all research credits claimed in the US.” The letter does not say how much of the total relates to data centers, and Meta had not responded publicly.
Where Research Ends and Construction Begins
Federal law limits the credit to work aimed at discovering information that is technological in nature, where substantially all of the activity forms a process of experimentation. It also bars land or improvements to land and depreciable property from qualifying supplies.
Because the buildings and servers themselves fall outside the credit, the dispute most likely turns on the engineering labor around them. Meta has a reasonable counterargument here: nobody has solved the cooling, power, and networking problems of gigawatt-scale clusters before, and a credit meant for frontier work could fairly cover some of that labor.
Meta earned $60.458 billion of net income in 2025 alone. Against that, a three-year credit of this size matters but would not harm the business. Management guided to a 15% to 17% tax rate for the rest of 2026, provided its tax landscape does not change.
Meta’s own filings suggest the company thought its tax position might not survive IRS review. Tax rules can also move results significantly: in Q1 2026, Meta recorded an $8.03 billion benefit tied to Treasury guidance on capitalized R&D.
Welch also wrote separately to the IRS commissioner, asking how Meta and other large technology companies use the credit. Any company spending heavily on AI infrastructure will likely have to show where its research ends, and its construction begins, and the suppliers powering, cooling, and networking those sites face the same examination by proxy (we profiled seven of them in a free report available here).
What Investors Need to Watch in META Stock Now
The policy risk is real, but for now it is only a question with a deadline attached. Even losing every disputed credit would hit one line of a business that is still growing advertising revenue at 27%.
The stock trades at 22 times forward earnings, and the average analyst target is $805.50.
Meta’s reply by October 31 and the tax-rate line on the next earnings report will test this view. A rate above the 15% to 17% guidance, or any IRS action on the credits, would weaken the bullish case.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg have clashed for years, but with John Ternus taking the reins at Apple, the rivals are finding common ground in artificial intelligence.
Meta and Apple revealed a new collaboration Thursday that will enable developers to easily run Meta's new open-weight AI model on Apple's high-end desktop computers.
The collaboration centers on Muse Spark Open, the most capable open-weight model released under a license that allows for limited commercial use, according to Meta. It's an 816-billion-parameter model using a so-called mixture-of-experts architecture. As an open-weight model, developers can download the technology's parameters, or weights, from the internet and run the model on a wide range of hardware.
Customers will be able to pair between two and four Mac Studio PCs to use Muse Spark to code, analyze video or do other agentic work. The model runs locally, instead of in the cloud, adding a layer of security and saving users money, the companies said.
Thursday's announcement, following months of collaboration, is a sign that the AI boom has shifted historical alliances in Silicon Valley. For years, Apple and Meta regarded each other warily and avoided public partnerships, and the relationship hit rock bottom after Apple introduced privacy changes in 2021 that limited the targeting capabilities of digital ad companies. Meta estimated in early 2022 that the change would cut its revenue that year by $10 billion.
Representatives from Apple and Meta declined to say if the Muse Spark Open collaboration was the start of a deeper relationship.
Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang said in an interview that many powerful open-weight models are too big to be run on the majority of personal computers, but Apple's Mac Studios make enough memory available to users so that it's practical to run Muse Spark Open.
The move represents an important show of confidence in Meta's rebooted AI efforts and could pose a challenge to OpenAI and Anthropic. It could also signal Apple's growing strength in AI chips, a market that Nvidia has dominated so far due to their prevalence in large data centers.
"We worked with Apple to bring leading Agent capabilities to your desktop for the first time on the Apple M5 Ultra Mac Studios, so you know we're really excited about this," Wang said. Developers can download a version of the AI model from websites like Hugging Face without extra configuration for Apple's silicon. Muse Spark Open has also been tuned to run faster on Apple's hardware, and the iPhone maker revealed new benchmarks for its chips and published technical documentation about its MLX AI framework's ability to split open-source models across multiple machines.
Mac Studios aren't cheap though, and this AI model requires the fastest Apple chips and as much memory as possible.
Currently, a Mac Studio with the required M5 Ultra chip and 256GB of memory costs at least $10,799. A more expensive version with 512GB of RAM will be released later this month.
Plus, users will need to buy multiple machines.
Common ground on open sourceThe two companies are collaborating on open-source AI, which has become a point of contention in Washington as politicians worry that free Chinese models could undercut American AI. Although Meta once centered its AI strategy on its older open-weight Llama family of models, it has since focused on creating proprietary models under the leadership of Wang, who joined Meta when the company invested more than $14 billion into his former startup Scale AI last year.
While Apple and Meta, then known as Facebook, partnered on iPhone extensions over a decade ago, they haven't struck any public partnerships since 2017 after Apple removed system-level Facebook integration from the iPhone.
"Most of the animosity predates my tenure at the company, but obviously there's been a long history between Meta and Apple," Wang said, pointing to one member of his team, AI researcher and former Apple director Daniel Gross, as a reason for the collaboration. Gross, along with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, was a major Zuckerberg hire last year as the Facebook founder was overhauling his company's AI strategy.
Their leaders have also traded harsh words.
Cook, who was Apple CEO until Ternus succeeded him last month, took a shot at Zuckerberg in 2018, during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, saying, "I wouldn't be in this situation." Cook often criticized Meta for compromising user privacy.
Zuckerberg has also insulted Apple in public, telling Joe Rogan last year that the company "hasn't invented anything great since the iPhone." Zuckerberg has long sought to find a platform that Meta can own so it's not beholden to Apple.
Ternus, a hardware engineer, has already started changing things at Apple, including when it releases products.
And Meta's developers haven't been able to resist Apple's products. The company bought hundreds of Mac computers so its Superintelligence team could experiment with local AI and agents earlier this year.
Apple's multiple partnersMeta is just the latest AI model developer to team up with Apple.
In 2024, Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri, although the integration "dramatically underperformed" and didn't lead to OpenAI user growth, OpenAI said in a filing that's part of a legal dispute with Elon Musk's xAI. Apple sued OpenAI in July, alleging trade secret theft, a claim OpenAI denied.
Earlier this year, Apple announced a deal with Google, to use its Gemini models in Apple Intelligence as well as Google Cloud infrastructure.
Still, Apple's AI strategy has drawn criticism from investors and customers in part because its new version of Siri, released last month, isn't as advanced as chatbots and agents from leading labs.
Meanwhile, Meta has bet big on becoming a leading lab but has struggled to keep up with the competition and its business remains almost entirely reliant on ads. Recent developments, such as Meta's Muse personal agent app and its latest proprietary foundation model, Muse Wonder, released earlier this week, have begun to excite investors who are optimistic about new AI business opportunities.
Open source remains part of Zuckerberg's AI strategy. In August, Meta debuted a small open-weight AI model dubbed Muse Glimmer, with Zuckerberg pledging to eventually release something bigger and more powerful.
Muse Spark Open isn't as advanced as Muse Wonder, a proprietary offering, but Wang said it's good enough to potentially entice more coders to upgrade.
"These aren't the most capable models that we've developed or released," Wang said. "But we think that there will be a lot of companies and developers who sort of use this model and tinker with it at small scale and then seek to ramp up and scale up their usage."
WATCH: Apple makes its biggest smart-home push yet under CEO John Ternus.
SummaryMeta Platforms is rated Hold, with a 12-month target of $760, reflecting fair value at ~22x 2027 EPS.Ad revenue surged 28% in Q2 2026, but free cash flow has nearly vanished due to heavy AI capex.META faces a ~$10B Q3 legal charge, uncertain 2027 capex guidance, and no Q2 buybacks, raising cash return concerns.Muse's rapid launch is promising, but monetization and material revenue contribution remain unproven at current scale. Kira-Yan/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
I rate Meta Platforms (META) a Hold. On October 13, 2026, the stock closed at ~$763. There are ~2.55 billion shares in circulation, with a market cap of ~$1.94 trillion.
Meta's advertising business has
126 Followers
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Meta ve třetím čtvrtletí očekává tržby ve výši 61 až 64 miliard USD, což představuje meziroční nárůst o 19 až 25 %, zatímco kapitálové výdaje by v roce 2026 měly dosáhnout 130 až 145 miliard USD.
Meta Platforms (META -3.27%) will report its third-quarter results after the market closes on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Shares are at about $743 as I write -- roughly 6% under the stock's record close of $790, set in August 2025.
The stock has also gained about 30% since Aug. 31.
The earnings figure in the report might look stunning. Analysts expect earnings per share of $6.77, according to FactSet, compared to just $1.05 a year ago.
But last year's number was distorted by a one-time charge. I'd buy the stock before the report anyway, though not because of a sixfold jump in earnings. What counts more is what the update says about Meta's ad business and its massive artificial intelligence (AI) budget.
Image source: Getty Images.
A distorted comparisonMeta's third-quarter 2025 earnings included a one-time, non-cash income tax charge of $15.9 billion linked to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Without it, Meta said its diluted earnings per share would've been $7.25 rather than $1.05.
Against that $7.25, FactSet's $6.77 estimate is around 7% lower. The gap probably reflects higher spending. Management also expects a tax rate of 15% to 17% for the rest of 2026, over the 14% Meta would've paid in the year-ago quarter without the charge.
Put another way, investors shouldn't read much into a big jump in earnings per share on Oct. 21.
Ad growth needs to hold upShowing the strength of demand for Meta's ads, advertising revenue climbed 33% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. In the second quarter, ad revenue rose 27% to $59.4 billion. And management's guidance points to further deceleration. Meta expects third-quarter revenue of $61 billion to $64 billion -- growth of around 19% to 25% from $51.2 billion a year ago.
What would I like to see? Revenue in the top half of that range would be a solid start. But what's behind the growth matters even more.
In the second quarter, ad impressions rose 14% year over year, and the average price per ad was up 12%. CFO Susan Li tied the higher prices partly to stronger ad performance, plus improving economic conditions and currency.
Meta also said its AI-driven upgrades to its ad-ranking system led to an 8% boost in ad clicks and a 16% lift in conversions on Facebook in the quarter. If the average price per ad keeps rising at a double-digit rate in the third quarter, it suggests advertisers are paying more for ads that work better for them.
Can ads keep paying for the AI build-out?The other half of the report is spending. Meta expects 2026 capital expenditures (including principal payments on finance leases) of $130 billion to $145 billion, up from $72.2 billion in 2025. Through June, it had spent $50.9 billion. Even the bottom of the range implies about $79 billion for the second half, or roughly $40 billion a quarter, up from $31.1 billion in the second quarter.
That spending is already hitting cash flow. Free cash flow dropped to just $784 million in the second quarter, versus $8.5 billion a year before. And long-term debt rose to $83.7 billion as of June 30, from $58.7 billion at year-end 2025.
Third-quarter free cash flow could slip below zero. A year ago, it was $10.6 billion.
Investors might also get a first look at 2027. A year ago, management used its third-quarter earnings call to say capital expenditure dollar growth would be "notably larger" in 2026 than in 2025. In July, Li held off on a 2027 number.
"Infrastructure planning remains highly dynamic and even this year, there are a range of outcomes embedded in our outlook," she said on the second-quarter earnings call.
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I can live with a weak free cash flow quarter if ad revenue keeps growing at roughly 20% or higher. After all, Meta still expects its 2026 operating income to be above 2025's $83.3 billion. A far bigger 2027 spending plan paired with ad growth falling below that rate, though, might make me rethink the stock.
Of course, the report may push the stock down, especially after its climb since late August. But at around 22 times expected 2027 earnings, I think shares are reasonably priced for a company whose ad sales rose 27% last quarter. At that price, Meta doesn't need a blowout quarter -- just revenue growth in management's range and a spending plan the ad business can cover.
Overall, I'd consider buying shares ahead of the report. But, given the risks, probably gradually rather than all at once.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is closing the gap with Anthropic in artificial intelligence, giving Guggenheim Securities fresh reason to back the stock. The next test is turning those gains into a business through its Muse AI agent.
Analyst Michael Morris maintained a Buy rating and raised his price target to $850 from $700 in an Oct. 14 note, citing higher 2027 estimates and the longer-term opportunity in agentic AI.
Meta now scores 56 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, behind only Anthropic’s 58 among the companies in the note’s comparison. Guggenheim sees the launch of Muse Wonder as a potential catalyst, provided the model’s capabilities translate into a more useful agent.
META stock is moving. See the chart and price action here. The Big Question: How Does Muse Make Money? Guggenheim expects Meta to follow a familiar playbook: let consumers use the product for free, then charge businesses to reach them.
"Over time, we believe Muse monetizes primarily through businesses paying to reach consumers through their agents, consistent with the economics of Meta’s core advertising business, rather than consumer wallets," the analysts wrote.
Read Next
The firm expects management to prioritize growing usage before near-term revenue. Muse reached 1.3 million daily active users after five weeks, up from 300,000 in its first week, according to Guggenheim’s analysis of Apptopia data.
Even so, that audience represents less than 0.05% of Meta’s 3.6 billion daily users. Guggenheim views free distribution across that enormous potential audience as an advantage as Meta competes to make AI agents part of everyday shopping, travel and scheduling.
A Costly OpportunityGuggenheim raised its 2027 capital expenditure forecast to approximately $225 billion from $203 billion and expects free cash flow to remain under pressure through 2028.
A rival breakthrough could also force Meta into a prolonged spending race. Morris nevertheless pointed to the company’s record with WhatsApp globally and Reels against TikTok as reasons to believe it can emerge as a leader at scale.
Guggenheim expects agent monetization to ramp more significantly beyond 2027, supporting its willingness to assign Meta a higher valuation now. On the third-quarter earnings call, the firm will look for management to connect stronger models with a stronger agent business.
Without that connection, the analysts warned, the frontier model race becomes "a competitive cost center rather than a growth investment."
META Stock Price Activity: Meta Platforms shares were down 3.17% at $738.32 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Akcie společnosti Meta během dne klesly o 3,66 % poté, co analytik společnosti Guggenheim zvýšil svůj odhad kapitálových výdajů společnosti Meta pro rok 2027 na 225 miliard USD.
Meta Stocks Fall 3.7% as Analyst's $225 Billion Spending Forecast Raises Stakes
Guggenheim's 2027 capital-spending estimate is an analyst projection, separate from company guidance.
Summary
Meta’s advertising engine must support its AI investment while protecting profitability.
Meta Platforms, the social-media and AI-products group META, faces a bigger spending hurdle as enthusiasm for Muse meets the bill for building it. Shares traded at $734.605, down 3.66%, at approximately 12:41 p.m. ET on October 14. According to Barron's, Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris lifted his 2027 capital-spending estimate to $225 billion from $203 billion. That extra $22 billion sharpens the question: how much investment can Meta absorb before earnings feel more pressure? The estimate belongs to Morris; it is not company guidance.
Advertising is still doing the heavy lifting. Meta's second-quarter filing reported 14% growth in ad impressions and a 12% increase in average ad prices. Revenue climbed 28% to $60.80 billion, but operating income fell 8% to $18.78 billion. That puts the operating margin near 30.9%. More sales, less operating profit—a clear sign that rising expenses are swallowing the advertising gains. The company also projected $130 billion–$145 billion in 2026 capital expenditures to support AI and its core business.
The valuation picture shows shares 15.16% below the $865.88 GF Value™ estimate, suggesting a potential valuation cushion rather than a guaranteed bargain. Muse could broaden Meta's revenue base, but investors still need evidence that its financial contribution can justify the infrastructure bill. Watch ad pricing, impression growth and operating margin alongside the next spending update. Product buzz can lift expectations fast. Turning that buzz into durable profit is the harder job.
Disclosures
I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Meta představila modely AI Muse Wonder a Muse Wonder Full; její akcie během dvou dnů po představení vzrostly přibližně o 6 %. Bank of America potvrdila doporučení „koupit“ a cílovou cenu 810 USD.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) has strengthened its artificial intelligence credentials with two new models, prompting Bank of America to reiterate its 'buy' rating and $810 price target.
The bank said Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full demonstrate progress by Meta Superintelligence Labs, which was formed 16 months ago, and could improve confidence in the company’s ability to compete with leading AI developers.
Meta shares rose about 6% over the two days following the launch, outperforming a broadly flat S&P 500 index.
Benchmark results from Artificial Analysis, an AI model evaluation platform, placed Muse Wonder Full’s intelligence score at 56, broadly in line with leading models from rival developers that scored between 53 and 58.
Bank of America said the release represented a meaningful achievement and should support investor confidence in Meta’s recent AI initiatives.
The models build on Muse Spark, which was designed for lightweight tasks requiring rapid responses, with the new versions targeting more complex workloads such as software development and agentic workflows, where AI systems can carry out multi-step tasks.
Muse Wonder is available through Meta’s model application programming interface (API) and Muse Code, a coding service, at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens, while Muse Wonder Full is restricted to Muse Code subscribers.
The standard Wonder model will also power Meta’s Muse personal AI agent, initially for subscribers.
Bank of America expects the more capable models to strengthen Meta’s potential to generate revenue from enterprise contracts, API access and cloud distribution partnerships.
The bank also sees scope for improvements in Muse’s usefulness and task-completion rates, potentially supporting user adoption and retention.
More capable AI models could improve content recommendations and advertising targeting, helping advertisers generate better returns on advertising spend and encouraging additional investment on Meta’s platforms.
The models could also reduce Meta’s reliance on external AI systems, lowering the cost of processing requests through third-party models.
Bank of America believes analysts’ forecasts currently include limited contributions from Meta’s emerging AI businesses, leaving room for upgrades if advertising, subscriptions and computing capacity leasing generate meaningful revenue.
The bank highlighted Meta’s planned computing capacity expansion, with more than 3 gigawatts targeted for 2026 and 6 gigawatts for 2027, as a potential source of upside to earnings estimates for 2027 and 2028.
Potential enterprise agreements represent the next important catalyst, although the bank warned that slower Muse adoption, competing AI agents from Google and concerns about rising capital expenditure in 2027 could weigh on sentiment.
Social media giant Meta Platforms (META +2.74%) has rallied 15% this year as it looks to be on track to hit a new all-time high. The business has done well despite adversity and legal challenges relating to the addictiveness of its platforms.
The company generates billions in revenue from advertisers, and the hope is that its new artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Muse, could drive even more revenue growth. Despite a market cap of around $2 trillion, the stock doesn't look overpriced and may still have more upside. Could it hit $1,000 in the near future?
Image source: Getty Images.
Meta's stock doesn't look expensive, based on its expected growthAlthough Meta's stock is approaching $800, in terms of earnings, its valuation is not enormous. It's trading at 28 times its trailing earnings. But based on analyst projections of how profitable the business will be in the year ahead, it's at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 22.
A key metric growth investors look at is the PEG multiple, which takes into consideration the earnings multiple and the future earnings growth that analysts expect over the next five years. A PEG of less than 1.0 suggests the stock is a good buy when considering future growth. Meta is just under that cutoff right now.
However, analyst expectations can change over time. If Muse proves to be a big moneymaker for the business, the company's outlook may be more promising, leading to greater returns for shareholders.
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Is Meta's stock worth buying today?Despite the optimism around the business, the consensus analyst price target for Meta's stock is around $796, suggesting it's unlikely to rise much higher. However, the most bullish forecast does project it will reach $1,000. Price targets are typically the levels analysts expect a stock to reach over the next 12 to 18 months.
Meta has a strong business, but I'm not convinced it's worth investing in at its current share price. Its Muse assistant may open up more growth opportunities, but there's also likely to be considerable competition in the space as more companies develop AI assistants. Whether consumers will truly need them and see value in paying for them is also debatable.
The social media stock may hit $800 within a few weeks or even days, but I don't think $1,000 is on the horizon just yet, maybe in the long run. I'd take a wait-and-see approach with the stock first to gauge how well Muse is doing before buying Meta's stock, as its future gains may hinge heavily on how successful its AI strategy proves to be.
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Zuckerberg said that in late 2025, Meta weighed a $200 billion AI bet before seeing its new models. Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg was ready to bet as much as $200 billion on AI, and Meta’s finance chief wanted the person building it to understand what failure would mean.
On the Cheeky Pint podcast released on Monday, Meta CEO and Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, recounted conversations from late last year about enormous investments before Meta’s new models had proven themselves.
“At the end of last year, we're like, all right, we are quite excited about the progress. We haven't seen the models yet,” Zuckerberg told show host John Collison.
“I'm going to, like, you know, we're going to write this check for, like, I don't know, like $100 billion, $200 billion. I'm like, 'Alex, are you sure this is going to work?'” Zuckerberg said of Wang.
Zuckerberg did not specify the timeframe or exact scope of that contemplated commitment.
What are the real-life consequences of AI?
Wang said he had encouraging research updates at that point, but success was far from certain. At an executive gathering in Hawaii, Wang said that CFO Susan Li repeatedly pulled him aside.
“Susan pulled me aside many times and was like, 'You know, I just want to tell you, if this doesn't work, like, you know, this is going to be really, really bad. It's going to be very, very bad in financial terms.'” Wang said of Li.
Meta's capex over the past few quarters has been substantial, raising eyebrows among investors. Meta’s latest guidance puts 2026 capital expenditures, including finance lease principal payments, at $130 billion to $145 billion. In forecasts previously seen by Business Insider, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts expect the spending to reach $200 billion in 2027.
Investors have shown limits. Meta shares fell more than 6% in after-hours trading following April’s earnings report, despite strong results, after the company raised its annual spending forecast to $125 billion to $145 billion.
Inside Meta, the leadership is well aware of the stakes. In Wang's words, "this is a fuck ton of risk.”
"So I think that in order for it not to work out, it's not just that we have to fail, AI overall has to fail," Zuckerberg said. "And then even if that happens, we still have all these other uses to productively use compute."
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Katherine Li You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Katherine Li is a reporter on Business Insider's West Coast business news team. She covers career, the future of work, and how AI is changing hiring practices and workplace trends.Previously, she was a newsroom fellow who wrote international breaking news and produced newsletters for Semafor. Before that, she wrote about climate policies for The Lever, covered the AAPI community for the SF Chronicle as a freelancer, and wrote about the 2019 Hong Kong protests as an intern for The New York Times.She is an alumna of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley and a graduate of the international journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University with minors in French and English literature. Email Katherine at [email protected] and follow her on Bluesky @katherineli.bsky.social.
Meta Mark Zuckerberg Big Tech More Stock Market Stocks Artificial Intelligence
, /PRNewswire/ -- Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) announced today that the company's third quarter 2026 financial results will be released after market close on Wednesday, October 21st, 2026.
Meta will host a conference call to discuss its results at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET the same day. The live webcast of the call can be accessed at the Meta Investor Relations website at investor.atmeta.com, along with the company's earnings press release, financial tables, and slide presentation.
Following the call, a replay will be available at the same website. Transcripts of conference calls with publishing equity research analysts held on October 21st, 2026 will also be posted to the investor.atmeta.com website.
Disclosure Information
Meta uses the investor.atmeta.com and meta.com/news websites as well as Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook profile (facebook.com/zuck), Instagram account (instagram.com/zuck) and Threads profile (threads.net/zuck) as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
About Meta
Meta is building the future of human connection, powered by artificial intelligence and immersive technologies. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving toward building experiences that foster deeper connections and unlock new possibilities.
Contacts
Investors:
Rob Bevegni
[email protected] / investor.atmeta.com
Meta představila model umělé inteligence Muse Wonder pro osobní asistenty; v aplikaci Muse bude dostupný v rámci předplatného za 20 nebo 100 USD měsíčně.
Meta debuted its latest artificial intelligence model, Muse Wonder, and says it's the most advanced option for powering digital assistants. But it doesn't come for free.
To access the model, users of the Muse personal agent app will need to sign up for a monthly subscription of $20 or $100. The release underscores Meta's efforts to create new AI-derived revenue sources outside of its core online ad business.
Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang said in an interview on Monday that the company developed Muse Wonder, codenamed Watermelon, to improve the capabilities of "personal and professional agents" so they don't stumble on tasks like booking dinner reservations and checking for availabilities.
"When you do real-world tasks, you're going to get roadblocks and you're going to get things that come up or various setbacks," Wang said. "We specifically tried to train the model to be able to try other approaches instead of stalling and then checking back in with the user at any time."
Meta said in a blog post that the latest model "offers our strongest safeguards to date" against "cyber misuse." Those protections only come with the paid model for now.
Muse shot up to the top of Apple's App Store after Meta introduced the AI agent app last month. The app is free, with subscription plans available for more usage.
Wang said Meta's AI team has been monitoring for agent-related "incidents or issues" with Muse in order to understand problems and resolve them. Some users have complained on social media that the agent accessed personal messages without authorization, which the company has disputed.
Meta is trying to better inform people of how to use the app to avoid certain problems, Wang said.
"I think there are certainly instances users have authorized various communications or whatnot earlier in a conversation, and then may have forgotten about that," Wang said. He added that the company is educating users on such matters "to ensure that consumers can trust the product going forward."
Muse Wonder will also be available to coders who pay to access the company's related Meta Model API. Wang said that offering will cost more than the standard subscriptions because it is a "much larger model and at frontier level." He said it will still be priced "meaningfully below" leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
An even more powerful variant of Meta's latest model, dubbed Muse Wonder Full, will only be available to developers who sign up to the company's software engineering focused Muse Code AI agent under a $50 or $200 a month subscription plan.
WATCH: Meta partners with companies to set standards for doing business with AI bots.
Muse od společnosti Meta zaznamenal od spuštění 8,2 milionu stažení, ale podle BNP Paribas musí prokázat trvalé zapojení uživatelů a jasnější cestu k monetizaci.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is building early traction around its Muse AI platform, but BNP Paribas analyst Nick Jones says the product still needs to prove sustained engagement and a clearer path to monetization.
Jones maintains a positive view on Meta with an $885 price forecast, implying 23% upside from the cited Oct. 8 price of $720.90.
Muse Downloads Show Early MomentumJones said Meta Muse has accumulated more than 8.2 million downloads since its Sept. 8 launch. Downloads climbed through day 12 before stabilizing through day 23.
Meta also launched a native iPad version of Muse on Oct. 7.
Jones said Muse’s early U.S. downloads surpassed Sora and ChatGPT, helped by Meta’s large installed base across Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook.
However, Muse’s mobile app open rate jumped shortly after launch and then stabilized below Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, ChatGPT and Meta’s Family of Apps.
Jones said that pattern suggests Muse has generated initial interest but has not yet built habitual engagement.
Monetization Remains an Open QuestionMeta currently charges partners small transaction fees, while Muse remains free at the basic level and offers monthly subscriptions for heavier usage.
Jones said long-term monetization remains uncertain, though advertising could become more meaningful if engagement increases.
He expects Meta to continue using its Family of Apps to drive Muse downloads.
Jones Flags Competitive and Execution RisksJones does not see Muse as a near-term threat to vertical marketplaces because adoption remains early and the platform lacks direct inventory, transaction capabilities and customer-service features.
He said investors should watch traction for OpenAI’s Dots, competing consumer AI agents from Google and SpaceX, new partnerships and daily active-user trends.
Jones also flagged emerging security and privacy concerns around Muse, including additional privacy questions.
He said stagnant daily active users, even with steady downloads, could signal that Meta needs to adjust the product to improve market fit.
META Price Action: Meta Platforms shares were up 1.58% at $730.01 during premarket trading on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Výstavba datového centra Hyperion společnosti Meta v Richland Parish zvýšila roční výnosy z daně z prodeje z 21 milionů USD v roce 2024 na 39 milionů USD v roce 2025.
Holy Tacos and other businesses are opening in Richland Parish as Meta builds its data center. Tim Allen The construction workers building Meta's largest-ever data center are arriving in a tiny Louisiana town with more than specialized skills and manpower. They've also got cash to spend.
It's a fact that local entrepreneurs are leveraging to build new businesses.
"It's been a good opportunity for everybody," David Rodgers, the cofounder of Ice Queen, a local business, told Business Insider. "I tell people, you can't stop it unless you have $50 billion. You might as well get on board and go with the flow."
Meta is building its largest data center to date, Hyperion, in Louisiana's Richland Parish. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect Meta said the data center, dubbed Hyperion, will span nearly 10 million square feet in rural Holly Ridge and will support more than 7,500 jobs at peak construction.
That's a workforce larger than the population of Aspen, Colorado.
While the influx of workers is straining the local housing market and disrupting aspects of daily life, their presence has also boosted the region's economy.
Spinning straw into goldHolly Ridge is a very small sliver of the nearly 19,600 residents in Richland Parish, where agriculture has been the main industry for decades. Before Meta arrived, the smattering of towns, villages, and unincorporated areas that make up Richland Parish hadn't seen significant economic growth in years.
Tim Allen, a Richland Parish restaurant owner, lived through that stagnation in the nearby town of Rayville.
"Rayville has been a small community my whole life, and it's been in decline over the last several years. We have a lot of people whose children are moving out, and they usually don't come back," Allen said. "Growing up, downtown Rayville had multiple businesses, hardware stores, and clothing stores. One by one, they shut down until only a couple of stores were left."
When Meta announced its project in 2024, Allen and his family were among those who saw an opportunity to turn things around.
Holy Tacos in Rayville, Louisiana, opened its doors in April 2025. Tim Allen "Since Meta's announcement, we've seen old businesses revitalize and new ones open, including ours," Allen said. Holy Tacos opened in April 2025.
TJ and Kaycie Weed, also based in Rayville, said the new demographic created by Meta's project has boosted their sales. They first opened their café, HeBrews Coffee & Eats, near the end of 2021.
"When we first started, we thought 30 tickets was a good day," TJ said. "Now, we're hitting 30 tickets before the first hour and a half through the drive-thru alone. We're probably hitting 130 tickets now."
The café in Rayville is a brick-and-mortar, but the couple has two franchise locations, including a food truck that opened in 2025 directly across the street from the construction site in Holly Ridge. They said the Holly Ridge location opened specifically because of Meta.
"Holly Ridge does most of the catering. If it's any of the businesses under the umbrella of Meta, I send it to Holly Ridge," TJ said.
TJ and Kaycie Weed of Rayville, Louisiana, opened HeBrews Coffee & Eats in 2021. TJ and Kaycie Weed The wave of construction workers inspired Rodgers and his former business partner, Linda Edwards, to cofound Ice Queen in 2025. The business sells $3 bags of ice to subcontractors and companies working on the Meta project.
The parish has weathered several heat waves this summer, making ice a necessity for outdoor trade workers. Since July, residents have seen temperatures reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit more than two dozen times. The pair keeps the ice bags in a large tractor-trailer parked near the construction site and has a separate ice truck available to make deliveries.
Ice was only the beginning, though, and soon Ice Queen transformed into a one-stop shop of sorts for the work crews. Coffee machines. Cups. Sugar packets. Fridges. Microwaves. Straws. You name it, Ice Queen tries to supply it.
Robert Cleveland, president and CEO of the local economic development authority, Grow NELA, said the economic growth happening in Richland Parish is undeniable.
Data collected by Grow NELA shows that Richland Parish's annual sales tax revenue jumped from $21 million in 2024 to $39 million in 2025. At the end of 2026, Grow NELA expects the parish will see $92 million in annual sales tax revenue. Richland Parish has gained more annual sales tax revenue in 2025 alone than in the last 20 years combined, Grow NELA says.
"We have a number of small businesses that have propped up and have grown significantly because of the project," Cleveland said.
Supply and demandPart of the business growth in Richland Parish is supplying construction workers with what they need while they are away from home: lodging, food, and basic necessities.
Angel and Bryan Crawford, for example, chose to address the housing market gap with their rental company, Parish Line Properties. The couple owns a mobile home park called Antley Pines that opened in 2025.
Angel and Bryan Crawford built the Antley Pines mobile home park in Delhi, Louisiana. Angel Crawford "We added two homes last December, four this May, and our last four in July. All the homes were secured by deposits from Meta workers before we even got them into the park," Angel said.
A fully-furnished four-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home that's eight miles from the construction site costs an average of $3,000.
The couple previously worked in the nursing field, but decided to dive into real estate and property management after becoming empty nesters.
"In 2024, we started buying older houses that had been on the market for a long time or needed a lot of work. We had a vision to create a mobile home park and already purchased some land when we heard about Meta's data center," Angel said.
The Crawfords own Antley Pines through their rental company, Parish Line Properties. Business Insider The company now owns 18 rental properties, 14 of which the owners have set aside as workforce housing.
"Location is very important to Meta's workers because they work six to seven days a week and 12-plus hours a day. They leave around 4:30 in the morning, and they don't come home until 7 at night," she said.
Those long days can be taxing, making places like HeBrews Coffee & Eats popular with workers.
Shelbie Stephenson, owner of the Holly Ridge location, said they deliver 450 lunch plates to the Meta work site twice a month. Stephenson said they also do breakfast and coffee catering several times a month.
This HeBrews Coffee & Eats location sits across the street from Meta's construction site. Lauren Edmonds/Business Insider "We have done 900 burritos and 2,500 cups of coffee during safety week," she said.
Stephenson said the crews tend to order breakfast burritos, muffins, and scones in the morning. For lunch, they typically purchase pulled pork nachos, steak bites with peppers over rice, chicken bits over rice, or a sandwich.
Holy Tacos also fulfills lunch catering orders for workers on Meta's project, in addition to serving at its brick-and-mortar location.
"We've been out to the man camps, which are the temporary housing for construction workers, took our mobile setup, and cooked for them," Allen said.
He said the crews will order from catering from Holy Tacos between one and four times a month.
"Catering costs anywhere from $4,000 to $7,000, depending on the size," Allen said. "We have a good local following, but when you add the catering, probably 40% of our monthly business is directly related to Meta."
Linda Edwards and David Rodgers created Ice Queen in 2025. David Rodgers Staying hydrated is also a must in northeast Louisiana, where a series of heatwaves blanketed the region this summer.
"Pallets of water are where we make most of our money because it's a safety issue out here. The heat and all that," Rodgers, the owner of Ice Queen, said. "I buy truckloads of water and deliver probably 30 to 40 pallets of water a week to these guys."
Ice Queen sells a pallet of water for about $600. Liquid I.V., an electrolyte drink that helps with hydration, costs just over a $1 per pouch and is another notable product.
"The Liquid I.V.'s were one of the most important products because the guys would get so dehydrated," Edwards, a real estate agent with John Rea Realty, said. "They had never, ever encountered the humidity and the heat. It probably got up to 110 degrees out there."
Future plansIn June, a study commissioned by Grow NELA said that consumer spending and capital investments made during the data center's construction period will generate $162.9 million in sales tax revenues at the local and state levels.
While Meta has temporarily transformed Richland Parish into a modern-day boomtown, most of the construction workers will eventually move on to other jobs, taking their spending with them.
It's a reality that business owners in Richland Parish know is on the horizon.
Allen said Holy Tacos would likely continue catering for other businesses in the area and selling out of their restaurant. TJ and Kaycie said HeBrews Coffee & Eats will lean on the clientele it built before Meta arrived. The Crawfords said they are considering either selling the properties or continuing to rent them after construction ends. Ice Queen has diversified and plans to rely on other large-scale clients in the area.
Louisiana Economic Development said Meta is expected to work on the Richland Parish site through 2030.
What happens after that is anyone's guess. For now, though, there's money to be made.
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Lauren Edmonds You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Meta Data Centers AI More Economy Small Business Jobs
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Alexandr Wang's wild X feed seemed to lack any rhyme or reason, but the 29-year-old said it helped serve a broader purpose. Bloomberg/Getty Images Alexandr Wang said he had trouble focusing during recent Meta meetings.
On his mind: New memes to post about the company's popular new AI assistant.
"I would just like think of a meme and I'd be like 'Oh God, I have to get this out,'" Wang said in a recent interview with podcaster David Senra, adding that his coworkers were "somewhat surprised" at the buzz his posts were generating.
"It actually made an impact on growth," he said of the posts, "which is kind of hilarious."
Much has been said about Meta's chief AI officer and his chaotic X feed, which the 29-year-old has crammed with occasionally off-color yet invariably eccentric references to Muse, Meta's personal AI assistant that sent the company's stock soaring and redefined the market for AI tools.
In his interview with Senra, though, Wang said that his often spur-of-the-moment posts served a broader goal — to make Meta "cool again."
"Despite having like these incredible pieces of cultural software like Instagram and Facebook, historically, Meta was not cool," he said. "I remembered that the internet rewards risk."
After launching on September 8, Muse shot to the top of Apple's app store 10 days later, surpassing ChatGPT. Meta says Muse can help users research, fill out forms, buy items online, book restaurant reservations, find a dog sitter, and connect with services such as email, calendars, Spotify, Instagram, and OpenTable.
The app marked Meta's first successful breakthrough in AI tech, after its Llama and Spark LLM models failed to find niches already filled by widely used models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
With Muse, Meta found a largely untapped gold mine — though competing AI agents from OpenClaw and Instinct already existed in Silicon Valley circles. Muse, however, had the advantage of coming from a popular company with several billion potential customers already signed up on Instagram and Facebook.
And the internet, weary of staid pronouncements from CEOs who were perhaps once cool but are now entering their 40s (Mark Zuckerberg is 42), welcomed the boundless energy of a young executive newly endowed with power in the AI era.
"It was a lot of fun," Wang said. "There were like a few tweets where I just didn't think that much about it and just said, 'Fuck it, post.'"
Business Insider wants to know, by the way, how you're using personal AI agents. Take our survey below!
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Truman Dickerson You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Truman Dickerson is the Weekend News Fellow at Business Insider, based in New York City. He covers trending tech and business news. He previously reported for The Boston Globe's Express Desk. He graduated from Boston University, where he served as editor in chief of The Daily Free Press, BU's student-run newspaper.Contact him at [email protected]
Meta může po výsledcích za třetí čtvrtletí čelit tlaku kvůli vyšším kapitálovým výdajům na AI, včetně AI Muse, která za zhruba tři týdny získala více než 3 miliony aktivních uživatelů týdně.
Meta Platforms (META -0.31%) is expected to deliver its third-quarter report at the end of the month, and that event could lead to a big drop in the stock. Shares have fallen by 7.95% or more in the trading sessions immediately following three of Meta's last four earnings releases. Those declines have largely been credited to the market's response to Meta's increasing capital expenditures, which have weighed on free cash flow and earnings. Meanwhile, however, its revenue continues to climb quarter after quarter.
That pattern could continue with Meta's next earnings report, and the company's outlook for both capital expenditures and revenue could play a role. That's all due to the success of Meta's newest product: Muse.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Muse is a double-edged sword Muse, an agentic AI app, has rocketed to the top of the app store charts, surpassing 3 million weekly users and 5 million downloads in about three weeks after its launch. With Meta's distribution capabilities and the ability to promote the product to its 3.6 billion daily active users across Instagram, Facebook, and its messaging apps, that number has a lot of room to grow.
Meta offers a generous free tier for Muse as well as a couple of paid tiers for power users. Management expects to eventually generate the bulk of Muse revenue from fees on the transactions its agents facilitate. With that in mind, there are two key things to recognize about this agentic AI. First, it requires a lot of compute power to run. Second, Meta is not yet generating much revenue from running it.
If Muse is the success all the early reports suggest it is, that means Meta will likely increase its data center capital expenditures significantly, and its revenue outlook could disappoint. Analysts had previously grown optimistic about the potential revenues and profits Meta might generate by joining its fellow hyperscalers in renting out excess compute capacity to third parties. Now, Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski points out that a rapidly growing Muse user base could compel Meta to pause those plans and reserve its compute for its in-house needs.
That could all combine to send the stock lower as investors worry about Meta potentially overbuilding its infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
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Meta requires long-term confidence Gawrelski believes 2027 will be the low point in earnings for Meta as the company will invest even more heavily in AI infrastructure, but high-margin AI revenue won't start accumulating until 2028. He also believes analysts are overestimating Meta's near-term results while underestimating its long-term potential. Likewise, Citi analyst Ronald Josey is modeling for $27 billion in revenue from Muse by 2030, $23 billion stemming from transactions. That would be equal to around 12% of Meta's revenue from the last 12 months.
Few companies are better positioned to benefit from advanced artificial intelligence capabilities than Meta. Agentic and generative AI lower the barriers for small businesses to advertise on its portfolio of apps. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision of an AI agent that can start with a business's budget and a goal, and take care of everything else, from designing ads to testing them across Meta's platform, is nearly here.
What's more, generative AI can increase the amount of content on Meta's platforms by enabling users to make more interesting images and videos to share. Large language models are getting better at understanding Meta's users, which means its targeting for both user-generated content and advertisements should improve. Now, it has a popular consumer-facing AI agent.
The effects of Meta's AI investments are already evident in its top-line growth numbers. It's the bottom line and free cash flow that concern most investors. Accelerating depreciation expenses will weigh on its operating income going forward, but strong revenue growth over the long run will outweigh the higher expenses.
While I think it's likely that Meta stock will fall after it reports Q3 earnings this month, I also don't think investors need to wait for a better price. The stock trades at just 23 times forward expected earnings. For a company capable of growing as quickly as Meta is over the next few years, especially with the help of a successful Muse launch, that looks like a great price at which to buy. If the stock does indeed drop after earnings, it'll likely be worth it for patient long-term investors to buy more.
Hunterbrook Capital has taken a short position in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), betting that early excitement over the company’s Muse AI agent is running ahead of the usage data.
Hunterbrook disclosed the position Friday with a Hunterbrook Media report based on alternative data from TickerTrends. The numbers point to a cooling launch.
Benzinga reached out to Meta Platforms for comment and did not receive an immediate reply.
META stock is moving. See the chart and price action here. Downloads SlipHunterbrook highlighted data showing Muse downloads averaged about 165,000 a day in the latest seven-day stretch, down 8.1% from roughly 180,000 the week before.
Daily downloads came in around 170,000 on Oct. 6, 21.1% below the Sept. 24 peak of about 215,000.
Reviews fell too. TickerTrends counted 4,716 Android and iOS reviews in the seven days through Oct. 7, down 11.6% from the prior week. iOS reviews dropped 22.5%.
TickerTrends drew attention this week after its $50.44 billion estimate of OpenAI‘s annualized revenue landed much closer to newly reported figures than the $70 billion number investors had been passing around.
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Usage Climbs, SlowlyDaily active users are still rising. TickerTrends put worldwide Muse DAUs at 2,730,919 on Oct. 6, the highest reading in its data.
Hunterbrook pointed to the slow pace as a problem and calculated an average net gain of about 198,000 users a day from Sept. 15 to Sept. 22. Growth slowed to about 87,000 a day the next week, then to about 74,000 a day in the seven days through Oct. 6. That makes the latest pace 62.4% slower than the first surge.
Muse also has fewer users than Threads did at the same point in its launch. Threads launched globally, though, and lost users much faster after its debut.
From Investigation to ShortHunterbrook first went after Muse last month over privacy concerns. The report alleged the agent could be prompted to compile lists of Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to vulnerable groups, including undocumented immigrants, transgender public school teachers and women who said they had ordered abortion pills in states with bans.
Hunterbrook Capital said it was not short Meta when that report ran. It is now, after the download and usage data turned.
Zuckerberg’s Big BetMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Muse “the centerpiece of our vision for what we’re building” at the company’s event last month. The agent can send email, book travel and shop using its own computer and browser in the cloud.
Meta added about $200 billion in market value as Muse rose to the top of the U.S. App Store and Google Play free-app charts, according to Hunterbrook.
Blocked Sites, Privacy RisksHunterbrook also pointed to websites limiting what Muse can do. TickerTrends tracks user reports of sites that have restricted the agent, including Amazon.com, Costco Wholesale and Netflix. In September, Amazon said it blocked Muse from shopping for customers.
META Stock Price Activity: Meta stock was down 0.41% at $717.95 at the time of publication Friday, according to Benzinga Pro market data. Meta shares slipped below $718 shortly after Hunterbrook published its report around 1:30 p.m. ET.
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Image: Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Artemis Investment Management ve třetím čtvrtletí zvýšila svůj podíl ve společnosti Meta Platforms o 329,6 % na 192 252 akcií poté, co nakoupila dalších 147 497 akcií.
Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 329.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,497 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.1% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $139,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,013,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 148,222 shares of company stock worth $101,033,627 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week: Positive Sentiment: Meta’s growing role in the micro-drama market could create a new advertising revenue stream. Short-form serialized shows are expanding beyond China, and the platform is becoming an important distribution channel for this content. Why Meta is winning the micro drama wars Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly set a $1,000 price target, citing AI as a potential catalyst, while TD Cowen reaffirmed its “buy” rating with an $865 target. These targets imply analysts see substantial upside if Meta converts AI investment into higher engagement, advertising and commerce revenue. Meta Could Hit $1,000, Says Wells Fargo Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse assistant continues to expand, including a new iPad app, and the company is working with Sierra, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart on standards for AI agents to interact with businesses. Successful agentic commerce could eventually provide Meta with transaction-based revenue. Meta’s Muse launches on iPad Neutral Sentiment: President Donald Trump disclosed purchases of as much as $25 million in Meta stock, a headline that may support investor sentiment but does not change the company’s fundamentals. Trump bought up to $25 million in Meta Negative Sentiment: Jefferies found that roughly one-third of tested websites blocked Meta’s Muse agent. Access limitations could delay Meta’s plans to earn transaction fees from AI-powered shopping and other agentic-commerce services. Meta’s Muse AI agent blocked by websites Negative Sentiment: Florida is pursuing restrictions on Meta’s platforms, including a possible ban for users under 14 and limits on infinite scrolling for teenagers. Such rules could reduce engagement, advertising inventory and the effectiveness of Meta’s core products while increasing legal costs. Meta Stock Falls as Florida challenges infinite scroll Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s substantial AI data-center spending is consuming cash before returns are clear. Commentary also highlights criticism of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI strategy and the risk that AI infrastructure becomes a prolonged cash-flow drag. Why AI Infrastructure Is Turning Meta and Amazon Into Cash-Flow Sinks Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1% Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $720.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $637.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $619.40.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth META has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $791.86.
View Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
About Meta Platforms (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.
Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.
Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.
See Also Five stocks we like better than Meta Platforms Want Private-Market Access to Kalshi and Polymarket? Try This ETF Levi’s Stock Dip Reveals Value Opportunity Despite Q3 Headwinds PepsiCo Stock Looks Poised to Bottom With High Yield, Deep Value Alphabet’s $1.8 Billion Black Hills Deal Powers AI Data Center Push
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Meta očekává, že její kapitálové výdaje v roce 2026 dosáhnou 130 až 145 miliard USD, zatímco volné peněžní toky ve 2. čtvrtletí klesly na 784 milionů USD.
Meta is spending more on AI than almost any company on earth, and that bet could either supercharge your monthly contributions or drag them down. Here is what four years of disciplined investing actually looks like across the bull, base,…
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Putting $500 a month into Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) builds a position in one of the market’s biggest AI spenders without needing to pick a perfect entry point.
Shares traded at $733.35 in premarket action, slightly below the $738.88 close our price model uses as its starting point. Below is what that monthly contribution could be worth by 2030 and at the model’s full five-year horizon.
What $500 a Month Could Become by 2030 In the base case, four years of contributions ($24,000 invested) could be worth about $31,733.51 by 2030. That means you would gain 32.22% on the money you put in. Treat the 2030 figure as illustrative, because 2030 falls between the model’s 1-year and 5-year horizons.
Tied to the projected five-year horizon (2031-10-07), 60 contributions totaling $30,000 could reach about $42,629.06, a 42.10% gain. Behind that number is a base-case share price of $1,423.93, for a 92.71% total return (14.02% annualized). Your monthly plan makes less than a lump sum would because the later deposits have less time to grow.
The math assumes each $500 goes in at the start of the month and grows at each scenario’s projected annualized return. It leaves out dividends, taxes and fees.
Bull, Base and Bear Scenarios for Your Monthly Stake Scenario 5-Year Target Price Share Price Total Return $500/Month Value at 5 Years Illustrative 2030 Value Bull $1,722.16 133.08% $47,512.35 (58.37%) $34,556.35 (43.98%) Base $1,423.93 92.71% $42,629.06 (42.10%) $31,733.51 (32.22%) Bear $945.92 28.02% $34,096.47 (13.65%) $26,587.91 (10.78%) Over the shorter term, the model’s 1-year base target is $923.03, or 24.92% upside, inside a range of $786.35 to $1,061.42. The model’s confidence score is 0.9 on a 0 to 1 scale.
Wall Street’s consensus target is lower, at $794.96, based on 8 Strong Buy, 47 Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell ratings.
Three Forces Behind Meta’s Price Path AI is lifting the ad business. Second-quarter revenue reached $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year. Ad impressions rose 14% and the average price per ad rose 12%. Meta is selling more ads and charging more for each one. Its Advantage Plus tools, which automate ad campaigns, passed an annual revenue run rate of $75 billion.
New revenue lines are forming. After Meta integrated Muse Spark, its AI model, the number of people using Meta AI each day rose 60%. More than 1 million businesses now use Meta’s business agents every week. Wells Fargo argued that Muse can soar much higher, and MarketWatch reported a rare “golden cross” buy signal as users turn to Meta’s AI agent.
On the earnings call, the CEO said “AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities.”
The valuation leaves room to grow. The model uses forward EPS of $31.636 and a forward P/E of 23x, along with a consensus growth rate of 0.1961. For a company with operating margins of 41.44%, that is a reasonable starting multiple.
What Could Derail Your $500-a-Month Plan Spending is the biggest risk. Meta expects 2026 capital expenditures of $130 to $145 billion, and second-quarter free cash flow fell to $784 million. Q2 EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.10 estimate, weighed down by $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs.
That capex has to be spent somewhere, which is why we featured seven power, cooling and networking suppliers riding the same expansion in a free AI infrastructure report.
Other risks remain. Meta faces several youth-related trials in the U.S. that could lead to material losses, and EU regulators are pressing it on ads. Reality Labs lost about $19.2 billion in 2025.
The stock is also volatile, with a beta of 1.185, and it has grown only 2.8% over the past year despite strong revenue growth. If AI returns come in slower than hoped, the downside gain of 13.65% on your contributions becomes the more realistic outcome.
Where Your Monthly Contributions Could Land By 2030, $500 a month in Meta could be worth anywhere from $26,587.91 to $34,556.35 in this illustrative view. At the full five-year horizon, the range is $34,096.47 to $47,512.35.
These numbers depend on Meta’s AI spending paying off, so watch free cash flow and capex guidance in each earnings report. This is a projection rather than a recommendation, and none of these outcomes is guaranteed.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
CoreCap Advisors ve třetím čtvrtletí zvýšila svůj podíl ve společnosti Meta Platforms o 51 % nákupem 7 244 akcií; na konci čtvrtletí držela 21 451 akcií v hodnotě 15,556 milionu USD.
CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,451 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,244 shares during the quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 329.6% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 192,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $139,417,000 after purchasing an additional 147,497 shares during the period. Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the third quarter. Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. now owns 897 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.6% in the third quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,693,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 11,609 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,419,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Price Performance NASDAQ:META opened at $720.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $637.74 and a 200-day moving average of $619.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.
Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms recently issued reports on META. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $791.86.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on META
Insider Activity In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,222 shares of company stock valued at $101,033,627. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Meta’s growing role in the micro-drama market could create a new advertising revenue stream. Short-form serialized shows are expanding beyond China, and the platform is becoming an important distribution channel for this content. Why Meta is winning the micro drama wars Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly set a $1,000 price target, citing AI as a potential catalyst, while TD Cowen reaffirmed its “buy” rating with an $865 target. These targets imply analysts see substantial upside if Meta converts AI investment into higher engagement, advertising and commerce revenue. Meta Could Hit $1,000, Says Wells Fargo Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse assistant continues to expand, including a new iPad app, and the company is working with Sierra, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart on standards for AI agents to interact with businesses. Successful agentic commerce could eventually provide Meta with transaction-based revenue. Meta’s Muse launches on iPad Neutral Sentiment: President Donald Trump disclosed purchases of as much as $25 million in Meta stock, a headline that may support investor sentiment but does not change the company’s fundamentals. Trump bought up to $25 million in Meta Negative Sentiment: Jefferies found that roughly one-third of tested websites blocked Meta’s Muse agent. Access limitations could delay Meta’s plans to earn transaction fees from AI-powered shopping and other agentic-commerce services. Meta’s Muse AI agent blocked by websites Negative Sentiment: Florida is pursuing restrictions on Meta’s platforms, including a possible ban for users under 14 and limits on infinite scrolling for teenagers. Such rules could reduce engagement, advertising inventory and the effectiveness of Meta’s core products while increasing legal costs. Meta Stock Falls as Florida challenges infinite scroll Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s substantial AI data-center spending is consuming cash before returns are clear. Commentary also highlights criticism of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI strategy and the risk that AI infrastructure becomes a prolonged cash-flow drag. Why AI Infrastructure Is Turning Meta and Amazon Into Cash-Flow Sinks Meta Platforms Company Profile (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.
Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.
Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.
Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Meta Platforms Want Private-Market Access to Kalshi and Polymarket? Try This ETF Levi’s Stock Dip Reveals Value Opportunity Despite Q3 Headwinds PepsiCo Stock Looks Poised to Bottom With High Yield, Deep Value Alphabet’s $1.8 Billion Black Hills Deal Powers AI Data Center Push Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report).
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GAMMA Investing LLC ve třetím čtvrtletí zvýšila svůj podíl ve společnosti Meta Platforms o 13,3 % nákupem 7 458 akcií, čímž celkový počet akcií zvýšila na 63 449.
GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,449 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,458 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,013,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance Shares of META opened at $720.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $637.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $619.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $779.82.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 EPS for the current fiscal year. Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.08, for a total value of $688,763.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,878 shares in the company, valued at $5,735,814.24. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 148,222 shares of company stock valued at $101,033,627 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Meta’s growing role in the micro-drama market could create a new advertising revenue stream. Short-form serialized shows are expanding beyond China, and the platform is becoming an important distribution channel for this content. Why Meta is winning the micro drama wars Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly set a $1,000 price target, citing AI as a potential catalyst, while TD Cowen reaffirmed its “buy” rating with an $865 target. These targets imply analysts see substantial upside if Meta converts AI investment into higher engagement, advertising and commerce revenue. Meta Could Hit $1,000, Says Wells Fargo Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse assistant continues to expand, including a new iPad app, and the company is working with Sierra, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart on standards for AI agents to interact with businesses. Successful agentic commerce could eventually provide Meta with transaction-based revenue. Meta’s Muse launches on iPad Neutral Sentiment: President Donald Trump disclosed purchases of as much as $25 million in Meta stock, a headline that may support investor sentiment but does not change the company’s fundamentals. Trump bought up to $25 million in Meta Negative Sentiment: Jefferies found that roughly one-third of tested websites blocked Meta’s Muse agent. Access limitations could delay Meta’s plans to earn transaction fees from AI-powered shopping and other agentic-commerce services. Meta’s Muse AI agent blocked by websites Negative Sentiment: Florida is pursuing restrictions on Meta’s platforms, including a possible ban for users under 14 and limits on infinite scrolling for teenagers. Such rules could reduce engagement, advertising inventory and the effectiveness of Meta’s core products while increasing legal costs. Meta Stock Falls as Florida challenges infinite scroll Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s substantial AI data-center spending is consuming cash before returns are clear. Commentary also highlights criticism of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI strategy and the risk that AI infrastructure becomes a prolonged cash-flow drag. Why AI Infrastructure Is Turning Meta and Amazon Into Cash-Flow Sinks Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $885.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $791.86.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Profile (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.
Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.
Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.
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Meta okamžitě zakázala reklamy společnosti ByteDance a kampaně třetích stran odkazující na TikTok na Facebooku a Instagramu v USA a dalších sedmi zemích.
Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta has banned advertisements by ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, on its platforms in the United States and a handful of other countries, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.
The move marks an escalation in the long-running rivalry between Meta and ByteDance, whose video-sharing app TikTok has emerged as one of Meta’s most formidable competitors for user engagement, creators and advertising dollars.
Meta’s ban takes effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and extends to third-party advertisers running campaigns that link to TikTok and other ByteDance properties in those countries, Meta said.
Meta has banned advertisements from TikTok’s parent company ByteDance on Facebook and Instagram in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Askar – stock.adobe.com “We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps,” Meta said.
“Declining promotional services to a competitor is a normal business practice across industries. We will continue to compete on product quality and user experience.”
TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Meta’s move.
TikTok’s website shows that it does not support links that open or log users into other social media apps.
However, users can still add links to their profiles that direct people to those platforms’ websites.
The controversial move comes amid a heated rivalry between Meta and ByteDance as TikTok is seen as one of Meta’s most formidable competitors to draw user engagement, influencers, and advertising money. chathuporn – stock.adobe.com Meta has been urging TikTok and YouTube to follow steps it agreed to take on teen safety in August following a settlement of up to $18 billion with US states over social media harms to children.
Meta in August agreed to impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime usage by children who use Facebook and Instagram, and enhance measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.
TikTok has not publicly commented on Meta’s campaign, but it reached a settlement with Alabama in September that requires the social media platform to impose new usage limits and enhance age-verification measures for users in the state, resolving claims that it endangered children and misled consumers about its safety.
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TikTok operates in the US as a majority American-owned joint venture after a deal aimed at safeguarding US user data and averting a US ban on an app used by more than 200 million users in the country.
Bloomberg News first reported Meta’s ban earlier on Thursday.
Why Meta is winning the micro drama wars By and Lucia Moses You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has become a huge beneficiary of the micro drama boom by harvesting ad dollars and free content at the same time. Finn Gomez/Getty Images Micro dramas are booming outside the US. They're beginning to see traction stateside too, with lots of startups trying to convince American consumers to pay a few dollars to watch soapy stories on their phones.
But right now, there's one clear winner in the US micro drama industry: Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg's Meta is by far the most popular place for micro drama producers to market their stuff, industry players tell us. Some estimate that startups are directing up to 75% of their marketing budgets to Meta's various properties, in the hopes of getting Facebook or Reels users to come to their sites.
"What I hear consistently from apps is, Meta gets more than half of the customer acquisition spend by most micro drama apps," said Hernan Lopez, founder of research firm Owl & Co. He pegs micro drama ad spending at $1.5 billion globally — excluding China, where the genre started.
But Meta isn't just harvesting ad dollars from the micro drama business. It's also getting tons of free content: Micro dramas advertise themselves by showing users multiple episodes of their shows for free — and sometimes they'll show them many, many episodes. Some micro drama producers, including ReelShort, Flareflow, and ShortMax, have uploaded clips as long as 20 minutes to Meta's ad hub.
So Meta gets the best of both worlds: Micro drama producers give them money and they give Meta engaging videos that keep their audiences on Meta's properties.
Meta declined to comment.
GammaTime, a year-old micro drama company, spends some 55% of its marketing budget on Meta, said cofounder Slava Mudryk. Very long ads are part of the mix when GammaTime launches a series or has a series with a particularly strong story arc within the series, he said.
Mudrykh said these long ads give Meta an advantage over TikTok and YouTube, which don't offer them.
"We always use it with launches," he said. "What we see is that this long sequence just brings people in to watch. And when it's done, the desire to continue watching on the app is strong."
You'd expect that TikTok, which exists solely to show users short clips and whose Chinese roots have made it very familiar with micro dramas, would be a big player in micro drama ads. But people in the industry say Meta's ad infrastructure and targeting abilities make it easier to find viewers and convert them into paying customers.
It also helps that Facebook's aging user base is more likely able and willing to spend money on apps, says Ali Albazaz, whose Inkitt startup runs micro drama app Candy Jar.
"If the story is enticing enough, and grabs the user's attention, that person who comes to our app has a very high likelihood of converting to a paid user."
But that also seems like it will set up a long-term tension between Meta and its new breed of customers: If micro drama players are able to get real traction, that means they'll eventually be pulling eyeballs away from Meta. It's also not a new tension for Meta: A few years ago, when TikTok was entering the market, Meta made billions selling ads promoting the app to its users — and now TikTok is a giant competitor.
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Peter Kafka You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Peter covers media and technology for Business Insider; previously he has worked at Vox, Recode, AllThingsD, and Forbes. He was also the first hire at Silicon Alley Insider, Business Insider's predecessor.
Lucia Moses You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Lucia Moses covers the media and entertainment business, with a focus on how creators build businesses, how media companies intersect with creators, and how marketers adopt entertainment tools. She's broken stories about MrBeast's ambitions, Google's movie initiative, and Netflix's push into podcasts.She previously reported on media and managed teams at Digiday and Adweek.
Donald Trump v srpnu zveřejnil nákup akcií Meta Platforms (META) v hodnotě 5 až 25 milionů USD; portfolio však nezávisle spravují externí finanční instituce.
The filing reveals a sizable move into a tech giant. Summary
The disclosure shows a $5 million to $25 million Meta purchase.
President Donald Trump's latest financial disclosure shows a purchase of between $5 million and $25 million of Meta Platforms META stock in August, making it the largest disclosed buy for the month. The filing adds another high-profile investor name around Meta, although the White House says Trump's portfolio is independently managed by outside financial institutions rather than directed by the president himself.
The August disclosure included more than 500 securities transactions, according to reports. Trump also disclosed an investment of as much as $5 million in SpaceX debt, while total transactions during the period were valued between roughly $74 million and $273 million.
The Meta purchase was executed on August 21 and fell within the disclosure range of $5 million to $25 million. Other purchases valued between $1 million and $5 million included AT&T, ConocoPhillips, Netflix and Chevron.
Trump also reported sales in several companies, including between $1 million and $5 million each of AMD and Church & Dwight, alongside smaller sales of Boeing, Home Depot and Dell.
The disclosure is particularly notable because Meta remains heavily exposed to U.S. policy decisions around artificial intelligence, online safety, competition and technology regulation.
Still, the filing should not necessarily be interpreted as Trump personally making a bullish call on Meta. A White House spokesperson told Reuters that third-party financial institutions independently manage the president's portfolio and seek to replicate recognized indexes such as the Schwab 1000. The White House said investment decisions are made by independent managers.
Investor takeawayFor Meta investors, the transaction itself is more notable for its size and visibility than for its fundamental impact.
The company's investment case continues to depend primarily on advertising growth, engagement, AI monetization and returns on heavy infrastructure spending.
Investors should also distinguish between disclosed ownership activity and an intentional stock recommendation from Trump. Because the portfolio is independently managed, the Meta purchase does not necessarily indicate a personal investment thesis.
The more important catalysts remain Meta's earnings trajectory, AI capital expenditures and regulatory developments that could materially affect its platforms or advertising business.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Meta Platforms plánuje nativní aplikaci osobního agenta Muse pro Windows, která bude využívat bezpečnostní kontejnery Microsoftu; termín spuštění, cena ani očekávaný počet uživatelů nejsou známy.
Microsoft's containment technology expands Muse beyond mobile devices, but no Windows release date was disclosed. Summary
Windows expands Muse distribution before Meta proves monetization or user trust.
Meta Platforms META, the social-media and personal-AI company, secured another route to users through a planned native Windows app for its Muse personal agent. Shares were roughly flat, at $721.475 at 11.04am EST on October 8. The opportunity is straightforward: put Muse on the desktop, where users already spend time working. Getting them to keep using it is the harder part.
Microsoft's Windows announcement says Muse will integrate with Microsoft Execution Containers, which enforce limits on the files and networks agents can access. That gives Meta a framework for offering an agent that can act while keeping its permissions bounded. But “coming soon” leaves plenty unanswered. The announcement provides no firm launch date, pricing or expected user count. A distribution channel is taking shape; the commercial payoff remains unproven.
The valuation snapshot puts Meta 16.39% below its $862.86 GF Value estimate, suggesting a valuation cushion rather than guaranteed upside. Muse could broaden Meta's reach beyond its social apps, but desktop availability alone will not establish a profitable business. Investors need repeat usage, reliably completed tasks and a credible route to revenue. Permission controls can help build trust. Whether users return—and whether Meta earns money when they do—will determine how much this expansion matters.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Wells Fargo očekává, že AI může společnosti Meta Platforms pomoci dosáhnout v roce 2027 ceny akcie 1 000 USD; podmínkou je růst příjmů z reklamy a stabilizace výdajů.
Wells Fargo just slapped a four-digit price target on Meta, but the stock has gone nowhere in a year despite 28% revenue growth. Here is what has to happen for the math to actually work.
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction | META Price Prediction) now sells intelligence as well as ads. Advertising revenue hit $59.36B last quarter, up 27%, as ad impressions rose 14% and price per ad climbed 12%.
Shares are up 11.37% this year but only 2.8% over the past 12 months. That’s a weak return for a business growing revenue 28%. Wells Fargo now says Muse can push the stock much higher. My question for this piece: can Meta hit $1,000 in 2027?
Why Meta Has Gone Nowhere in a Year Despite 28% Revenue Growth Spending is what’s holding the stock back. Total costs rose 55% to $42.03B in Q2. Diluted EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.22 estimate, which ended a six-quarter run of beats. Operating margin fell to 31% from 43%.
Free cash flow dropped to $784M as capex reached $30.12B. On top of that, Meta took $2.40B in legal charges and still faces youth-related litigation. Shares slipped 0.74% last week after an 18.99% one-month rally. A beta of 1.185 means the stock swings a bit more than the market.
Wall Street Sees 8.4% Upside. Our Model Says 24.9% The consensus target is $794.96, just 8.4% above today’s price. Ratings break down to 8 Strong Buy, 47 Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell.
The base case stands at $923.03, representing 24.92% upside. Estimates span $786.35 in the bear case to $1,061.42 in the bull case, and our confidence score of 0.9 is high.
I think the Street is too cautious. 87% of analysts are bullish, yet their target stands just above the current price. Earnings growth was a slight drag in our model, at -0.013. Most of that came from one-time charges. Strip out the legal and severance costs and operating income would have grown 9%.
Here’s What It Takes for Meta to Reach $1,000 Getting from today’s $733.35 to $1,000 would take a gain of 36.4%. Forward EPS is $31.636, so a $1,000 share price works out to a forward P/E of 32x. The base case of $923.03 already means 23x, so the stock needs about 9x more multiple expansion to get there.
That’s a lot, but I can see how it happens. Strong analyst consensus helped push our 247Factor adjustment to 1.094. Analysts expect EPS of $34.0681 in 2027, up from $31.1683 for 2026, and that growth would bring the multiple down over time. Investors are piling into Meta’s top-charting AI agent.
Advantage Plus has passed a $75 billion annual run rate, and more than 1 million businesses use Meta Business Agents every week.
Zuckerberg said “AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities.” The main risk is that capex keeps growing faster than revenue.
Where Meta Trades Today vs Its Earnings Power At today’s price, Meta trades at 23x forward earnings. That’s reasonable for a business with an 82% gross margin and revenue growing in the high 20s.
Shares sit closer the $779.82 52-week high than the $519.37 low. Over 10 years, the stock has returned 473.86%. If AI keeps raising ad pricing, the current multiple leaves room to rise.
Can Meta Really Hit $1,000? My Verdict $1,000 would take a 36.4% gain. It’s a stretch, but a reachable one: our bull case crosses that level by September 2027.
Three things have to go right. Ad growth has to hold up, Muse and business agents need to start bringing in real revenue, and spending has to level off so margins can recover. A major legal loss or another capex increase would halt it. Investors shouldn’t expect this level of returns every year, but we’ve outlined the plan for how Meta Platforms could reach $1,000 in 2027.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jefferies zjistila, že zhruba třetina testovaných webů blokuje AI agenta Muse společnosti Meta, což může oddálit významné provizní příjmy z agentického obchodování.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) could see revenue from agentic commerce delayed after Jefferies, the investment bank, found about one-third of websites blocked access by Muse, its artificial intelligence (AI) agent.
Agentic commerce means AI agents browse, book and buy online on a consumer's behalf, and Meta hopes to collect a take rate, a percentage of each transaction.
Jefferies tested Muse on several hundred leading US e-commerce, airline, online travel agency, hotel and reservation websites: about one-third blocked its access, one-third challenged or restricted it, and one-third were easy to navigate.
Jefferies said new restrictions were appearing almost daily across the sites it tested, making website access, rather than model quality, an increasingly important bottleneck for agentic commerce.
Meta has responded by establishing sanctioned connectors with merchants including Walmart, Best Buy, Wayfair, Sephora and Dick's Sporting Goods, although many integrations remain in the early stages of deployment or are not yet live.
Jefferies considers blocking agents by default the wrong call over the long term, since agentic commerce would broaden distribution for merchants, but expects the access friction to extend the timeline for meaningful take-rate revenue for Meta.
Alphabet, the parent of Google, gains a potential structural advantage because most enterprises are unwilling to block Googlebot, its web crawler, given the risk of losing search traffic, while rivals may have to negotiate access site by site.
Jefferies also sees an opportunity for customer support software vendors as persistent AI agents generate more inquiries, naming Salesforce, HubSpot and ServiceNow among public companies and Sierra and Decagon among private companies.
An advertising expert consulted by Jefferies this week said Meta's ad spend growth outpaced Google's in the third quarter and expects the outperformance to continue in the fourth quarter and first quarter of 2027.
The expert added that as AI agents handle more queries, advertisers will optimize for outcomes rather than clicks, a shift that Jefferies said could benefit Meta alongside the current hype around Muse.
Floridský generální prokurátor žádá soud, aby Meta omezila dospívajícím používání aplikací na dvě hodiny denně a dětem vypnula automatické přehrávání i nekonečné posouvání obsahu.
Florida just rejected an $18 billion settlement that every other state accepted, and now its attorney general wants a judge to gut the very features that make Instagram and Facebook profitable. Here is what the legal threat actually means for…
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On Wednesday, Florida’s attorney general asked a Pasco County circuit judge for a temporary injunction against Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction). The motion would require Meta to find and remove Florida users under 14, limit teens to two hours a day across all its apps, and turn off autoplay and infinite scroll for children in the state.
Meta shares fell 2.38% that session and closed at $721.31. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.91%, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 1.42% and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) added 0.81%.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose from 4.8% to 5.27% over the same stretch.
The case rests on Florida’s deceptive trade practices law. It does not rely on the state’s social media age law. The motion is only a request: no judge has ruled, and no hearing date has been reported.
What Florida Wants Changed Inside Instagram and Facebook Under the motion, messaging would shut off, and Meta would be blocked from showing ads once a teen reached the daily limit. Florida wants these changes “implemented immediately.”
The ad ban impacts revenue directly. Advertising brought in $59.36 billion of Meta’s $60.80 billion in second-quarter revenue. Removing infinite scroll would cut engagement and ad impressions, which rose 14% year over year.
Even so, the motion covers teens in a single state. That is a small group next to Meta’s 3.60 billion daily active people.
Why Florida Turned Down a Settlement Every Other State Took Florida was the only state to reject Meta’s August 2026 youth-safety settlement, worth up to about $18 billion. The other 48 states and Washington, D.C., signed on.
The motion calls that deal “a mere slap on the wrist” that “will be cynically viewed as the cost of doing business,” and argues “none of the settlement’s injunctive relief reaches Florida.” The attorney general also posted on X: “We just asked a Florida court to order Meta to turn off the features that addict teenagers” and “Meta tried to get us to take their low-ball settlement.”
Meta’s response: “The attorney general should be using taxpayer resources to get YouTube and TikTok to empower parents and protect teens in Florida. We regret that he has chosen instead to pursue a meritless preliminary injunction years into the litigation.”
Pointing at YouTube and TikTok has no legal force. The timing argument is stronger: an injunction is emergency relief, and waiting years to ask for one weakens the claim that harm is urgent.
New Mexico Is the Larger Financial Risk New Mexico won a jury verdict against Meta in September. The state wants a judge to impose $35 billion to $40 billion in penalties; Meta wants any penalty capped at $3.45 billion. A ruling is expected later in October. The high end of New Mexico’s request would be a large penalty for a company that earned $60.46 billion in 2025. New Mexico has already been decided, and only the amount remains, while Florida’s case is still a request.
Wells Fargo raised its price target on Oct. 6, 2026, writing that “Investor enthusiasm around Meta’s Muse product cycle is warranted.” The analysts are treating regulatory action as something that ends in fines, which can be estimated, rather than in forced product changes.
What Could Move META Stock After New Mexico Rules Florida’s motion is still undecided, and nearly every other state has settled.
The bear case is serious. Florida is asking for product changes instead of money, a New Mexico jury has ruled against Meta, and the penalty decision is weeks away.
At about 22x forward earnings, the share price reflects substantial legal risk.
Watch New Mexico’s ruling. If the penalty lands near Meta’s $3.45 billion cap, the bullish case holds. If it lands near $35 billion, or a Florida judge grants the injunction, the bullish case needs a fresh look.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Butterfly Effect, mateřská společnost start-upu Manus zaměřeného na AI, získala v investičním kole více než 500 milionů USD poté, co Meta zrušila akvizici.
"AI Artificial Intelligence" words, a keyboard and a robotics hand in this illustration taken, September 23, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Butterfly Effect, the parent company of AI startup Manus, said on Thursday it completed a funding round of more than $500 million as the firm resumed independent operations after unwinding Meta's (META.O), opens new tab $2 billion-plus acquisition.
The round was co-led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with existing investors Tencent, Sequoia China and ZhenFund also participating.
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Here are some details:
Manus develops general-purpose AI agents that can autonomously carry out tasks such as research and automation with minimal human input.
In April, Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its acquisition of Manus amid tightening scrutiny of US investment in Chinese startups developing advanced AI technologies.
Manus said in August it would resume operating as an independent company and delete some user data as part of its separation from Meta.
The Information reported in June that Manus' annualised revenue run rate had surged to about $500 million, up from $100 million when Meta acquired it, and that the firm was considering a joint-venture structure incorporated in China, paving the way for a Hong Kong listing.
Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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