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META·Meta Platforms, Inc.

$670.44
+4.84 (+0.73%)
After Hours
High
$678.87
Open
$659.30
Market Cap
1.65T
52W High
$790.80
Low
$656.27
P. Close
$670.44
P/E
24.24
52W Low
$518.30
Fwd P/E
19.04
DailyIQ Est.
$804.57
Inst. Ownership
40.8%
Short Interest
1.17%
Days to Cover
1.7
Technical Score (1D)
82
BUY
News Sentiment
60
BULLISH
Caterpillar’s latest AI buildout, which cites Meta as a leading hyperscaler, is the most immediate headline; it signals that Meta’s cloud and data‑center infrastructure is already a key partner in the industrial AI wave, though no direct financial impact on Meta is disclosed. A week ago, Meta announced the issuance of roughly $220 billion of bonds to fund data‑center expansion, a move that underscores the company’s ability to leverage its strong cash flow to finance AI growth while also contributing to a broader shift in tech‑sector spread dynamics that could tighten borrowing terms for peers. The same day, Meta launched its Muse personal AI agent, moving beyond chatbots to offer proactive research, negotiation, and purchase completion, a development that has already attracted ETF managers and is expected to open new monetization pathways through commerce and advertising. Around the same time, analysts noted that Meta’s deep balance sheet positions it to weather the $500 billion AI‑related debt boom, reducing reliance on external borrowing and mitigating leverage risk for the next few trading days. Texas’s tightened data‑center interconnection rules prompted Meta to pledge full energy and water cost coverage for its Texas facilities, a regulatory compliance move that could either become a cost hurdle or a competitive moat depending on how the policy evolves. In Q2, Meta reported a 28 % revenue rise but a 55 % jump in operating expenses, driving margin down 12 points to 31 %; the widening expense gap remains a key concern for short‑term profitability. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has lifted its conviction on Meta after the Muse launch and a recent legal settlement, maintaining a Buy rating and a $725 price target, which suggests that the market is pricing in a clearer catalyst path for future upside. The combination of robust AI spending returns, a strong debt position, and renewed analyst confidence points to a potential rebound in Meta’s valuation over the next 1–10 trading days, but investors should watch for any signs of cost overruns, regulatory changes in Texas, or shifts in bond spread dynamics that could temper the upside.
Earnings Summary
Meta Platforms, Inc. is a global technology company focused on connecting people through its Family of Apps—Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp—and its Reality Labs segment, which develops virtual, augmented, and mixed‑reality hardware and software. The company operates in the communication services sector, with a broad product portfolio that spans social networking and emerging metaverse technologies. In the last two quarters, Meta’s EPS rose from 6.43 in Q1 2025 to 7.14 in Q2 2025, while revenue increased from $42.314 billion to $47.516 billion, reflecting strong growth in advertising and app usage. However, the subsequent Q3 2025 quarter saw a sharp EPS drop to 1.05 against an estimate of 6.70696, with revenue still up to $51.242 billion, indicating a significant earnings volatility that may be tied to cost or regulatory impacts. Historically, Meta has shown robust revenue growth, with a pattern of beating EPS estimates in most quarters, though recent legal settlements and regulatory pressures have introduced earnings uncertainty. Recent news underscores Meta’s aggressive AI push, including the launch of Muse AI, a dual‑vendor GPU strategy, and a $18 billion settlement with states that could affect cash flow. These developments highlight the company’s focus on AI monetization and regulatory compliance, while also exposing it to potential legal and reputational risks. Investors should watch for the next earnings cycle to gauge how the settlement expenses impact free cash flow, how AI initiatives translate into revenue, and whether the company adjusts its guidance or capital allocation in response to these evolving dynamics.

EPS

EstBeatMiss
$-0.12$2.42$4.96$7.51$10.05Q2'25Q3'25Q4'25Q1'26Q2'26Q3'26
QtrEstActual+/−
Q3'26$6.97 - -
Q2'26$7.36$6.18-16.0%
Q1'26$6.89$7.31+6.0%
Q4'25$8.39$8.88+5.8%
Q3'25$6.71$1.05-84.3%
Q2'25$5.90$7.14+21.0%

Revenue

EstBeatMiss
$45.0B$50.5B$56.0B$61.5B$67.1BQ2'25Q3'25Q4'25Q1'26Q2'26Q3'26
QtrEstActual+/−
Q3'26$64.5B - -
Q2'26$61.4B$60.8B-0.9%
Q1'26$56.6B$56.3B-0.4%
Q4'25$59.8B$59.9B+0.2%
Q3'25 - $51.2B -
Q2'25 - $47.5B -
Full Earnings BreakdownEstimates, actuals, guidance, and historical context
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Market Data

META Stock Snapshot

BUY82/100
$668.40−$2.04 (0.3%)
Market cap
1.65T
P/E ratio
24.2
Day range
$656.27 – $678.87
News sentiment
60/100 · Bullish
Analyst target
$758.28 (+13.4%)
Consensus
Buy · 73 analysts
52-week range+29.0% off low · -15.5% from high
$518.30$790.80
Price $668.40 DailyIQ Est. $804.57

META's technical picture is constructive, with trend and momentum pointing the same direction. Positioning shifts among large allocators, not retail flow, set the tone for a name this size.

Reverse DCF

What growth is priced into META?

CHEAP

At today's price, Meta Platforms, Inc. needs to grow free cash flow about 33.0% a year for the next 10 years to justify its valuation at a 11.44% cost of capital. Over its actual history it has compounded free cash flow at 37.8% a year, so the market is asking for 4.8 percentage points below its own delivered rate. On that basis META looks priced below what its own growth record supports.

Implied FCF growth
33.0%
Historical FCF CAGR
37.8%
Growth gap
-4.8 pts
Verdict
CHEAP
Discount rate (WACC)
11.44%
Beta
1.37

Behaviour On Record

What META's own history says about today's numbers

Realized volatility (21d)
31.5% 54th pct
Below its peak
-15.7%
vs 200-day average
+7.1%
Up days (1y)
53%

Meta Platforms, Inc. is currently running 31.5% annualised volatility over the last 21 sessions. Measured against META's own 13 years of daily returns rather than a market-wide average, that is the 54th percentile — close to its own typical level, against a typical reading of 29.5%. The distinction matters because a number that looks calm for one stock is turbulent for another, and the absolute figure on its own tells you neither.

META is trading -15.7% below its running peak. Across 12 full years on file, its median worst-drawdown-in-a-year was -20.3%, and the deepest was -73.8% in 2022. The current pullback is therefore shallower than what this stock gives back in a typical year, which is context worth having before treating it as a dislocation.

Price sits +7.1% from its 200-day moving average. Against every other day in its history, that gap ranks at the 38th percentile — close to the gap it normally carries. Over the past year META closed higher on 53% of sessions, and it is currently 3 sessions into a rising streak.

On September specifically: over 14 years of records, META finished the month higher 7 of 14 times, with a median return of +0.3% and an average of +0.4%. Its strongest month historically has been January at +7.9% on average, its weakest February at -4.1%. Seasonality is a weak signal on its own — a decade is a small sample and regimes change — but it is a real distribution rather than a rule of thumb.

Overnight risk is measurable too: META has opened more than 2% away from the prior close in 44 of 3,269 sessions (1.3% of the time), with the largest gaps running +6.6% and -7.1%. For anyone holding through an event, that rate is a better guide to overnight exposure than the intraday range.

Across the last 3 dated reports on file, META moved an average of 1.3% in the session after earnings, closing higher 2 of those 3 times, with a median move of +0.1% and a largest of +2.4%.

All figures computed from 3,270 daily closes between 2013-09-16 and 2026-09-15, split-adjusted, recomputed daily. Percentiles are against META's own 13-year history, not a peer group or index.

Sector Rotation

Is money rotating into or out of META's sector?

Meta Platforms, Inc. sits in the Communication Services sector, currently ranked 2nd of 11 GICS sectors by relative-strength rotation score (leading).

Sector rank
#2 of 11
Sector state
Leading
Sector rotation score
90

Options Market

What is the options market pricing for META?

CallsPuts

For Meta Platforms, Inc.'s nearest expiry (2026-09-16, 1 days out), open interest is roughly balanced between puts and calls (put/call ratio of 0.88), with at-the-money implied volatility around 32.7%. The options market is pricing roughly a ±1.7% move by that expiry — a range of about $653.51–$675.86.

Put/call ratio (2026-09-16)
0.88
ATM implied volatility
32.7%
Total open interest
61,873
Expected move by 2026-09-16
±1.7% ($653.51–$675.86)

Analyst Rating Changes

Are analysts turning bullish or bearish on META?

Cantor Fitzgerald most recently reiterated its rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. to Overweight on Sep 30, 2024 with a price target of $660. Over the last 90 days, coverage has run 0 upgrades against 0 downgrades, a net mixed lean.

Latest action
Cantor Fitzgerald — Overweight
90-day upgrades
0
90-day downgrades
0
Net rating momentum
0
DateFirmActionRatingPrice target
Sep 30, 2024Cantor FitzgeraldReiteratedOverweight$660
Sep 30, 2024Monness, Crespi, HardtMaintainedBuy$570 → $620
Sep 26, 2024RosenblattMaintainedBuy$643 → $811
Sep 26, 2024B of A SecuritiesMaintainedBuy$563 → $630
Sep 26, 2024JP MorganMaintainedOverweight$610 → $640
Sep 26, 2024WedbushReiteratedOutperform$600
Sep 26, 2024BairdMaintainedOutperform$530 → $605
Sep 26, 2024JMP SecuritiesMaintainedMarket Outperform$550 → $635
Sep 23, 2024Cantor FitzgeraldReiteratedOverweight$660
Sep 23, 2024CitigroupMaintainedBuy$580 → $645
Sep 10, 2024DA DavidsonInitiatedBuy$600
Sep 5, 2024Cantor FitzgeraldInitiatedOverweight$660

META Competitive Positioning

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is tracked alongside these names in Internet Content & Information on DailyIQ — ranked by market cap, with today's move alongside.

Held by These ETFs

META is a top holding in these ETFs tracked on DailyIQ — bar length shows portfolio weight.