With a market cap of $1.9 trillion, Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is a global technology company enabling people to connect and share through its extensive family of apps and devices. Operating through its Family of Apps and Reality Labs segments, Meta serves billions of users across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, while also advancing in virtual and augmented reality technologies.
Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company have outperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. META stock has increased 57.3% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied 18.1%. In addition, shares of Meta Platforms are up 31.2% on a YTD basis, compared to SPX’s 7.3% rise.
Moreover, the social media company stock has outpaced the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF Fund’s (XLC) nearly 27% gain over the past 52 weeks.
Shares of Meta jumped 11.3% following its Q2 2025 results on Jul. 30 due to stronger-than-expected EPS of $7.14 and revenue of $47.5 billion, driven by AI-powered ad tools that boosted conversions by 5% on Instagram and 3% on Facebook. The company also issued an upbeat Q3 revenue forecast of $47.5 billion – $50.5 billion, surpassing the consensus, and raised its annual capital expenditures guidance by $2 billion to a range of $66 billion – $72 billion to support AI infrastructure.
For the current fiscal year, ending in December 2025, analysts expect META’s EPS to grow 16.1% year-over-year to $27.69. However, the company’s earnings surprise history is strong. It beat the consensus estimates in the last four quarters.
Among the 54 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 45 “Strong Buy” ratings, three “Moderate Buys,” five “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.”
On Jul. 31, JPMorgan raised its price target on Meta Platforms to $875 while maintaining an “Overweight” rating.
As of writing, the stock is trading below the mean price target of $824.81. The Street-high price target of $1,086 implies a potential upside of 40.5% from the current price levels.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com