Erste Group Bank Forecasts Lower Earnings for Meta Platforms

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank lowered its FY2027 EPS forecast for Meta Platforms to $33.75 from $33.92, but maintained a “Buy” rating. The estimate remains above the broader consensus of $28.17 per share.
• Meta reported quarterly EPS of $6.18, missing the $7.19 consensus, while revenue reached $60.80 billion and grew 28% year over year. Shares opened at $578.02, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Despite several brokerages cutting price targets, Meta retains a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $785.22; institutional investors own nearly 80% of the company, while insiders sold about $19.2 million in stock over the past three months.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank cut their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $33.75 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $33.92. Erste Group Bank currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $28.17 per share.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on META. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $578.02 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $592.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $611.14. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS 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 the consensus estimate 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 was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 EPS.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% 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 sold a total of 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,299,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 625,079 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $352,101,000 after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta's AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta's child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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