Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America cut Meta’s price target from $835 to $810 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, implying roughly 38% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $824.47, despite recent target reductions from several firms.
• Meta’s revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion and exceeded estimates, but earnings per share missed expectations and heavy AI infrastructure spending is pressuring cash flow and investor confidence.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by analysts at Bank of America from $835.00 to $810.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Bank of America's price target suggests a potential upside of 38.32% from the company's current price.

META has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $725.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $780.00 target price (down from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $824.47.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $585.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $603.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $624.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding expectations of approximately $60.2 billion. Advertising revenue, ad impressions and average pricing also showed solid growth, while Instagram usage rose by double digits as AI-powered recommendations improved personalization. Meta narrows annual capex forecast, as AI buildout grows
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Reality Labs operating loss exceeded $4.6 billion but was narrower than analysts expected. The company is also exploring ways to monetize excess computing capacity, including potential enterprise customers, which could eventually help offset AI infrastructure costs. Meta's Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its Buy rating and $800 price target, while at least one analyst argued that the post-earnings selloff overlooks the strength of Meta’s advertising business and the one-time nature of legal and severance charges. Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is partnering with BlackRock on a roughly $14 billion El Paso, Texas, data-center project. The joint venture can reduce Meta’s upfront balance-sheet burden while securing future AI capacity, but the company remains exposed to long-term lease and asset-value obligations. Meta, BlackRock form $14 billion venture to develop AI data center campus in Texas
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $6.18 per share, well below the roughly $7.19 consensus and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal costs of about $2.4 billion and $1.2 billion in severance contributed to the miss, but investors are more concerned that capital expenditures consumed nearly all of Meta’s $31.9 billion in operating cash flow, sharply reducing free cash flow. Meta misses profit expectations, sticks to massive AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend approximately $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and related infrastructure in 2026. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion was below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint, reinforcing fears that spending, borrowing needs and infrastructure costs are rising faster than monetization. Meta tanks nearly 9%, Microsoft jumps 8% as the AI trade splits Big Tech

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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