FY2027 EPS Estimate for Meta Platforms Decreased by Analyst

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank cut Meta’s FY2027 EPS forecast to $33.92 from $35.13, while maintaining a “Buy” rating. The revised estimate remains above the current full-year consensus of $28.84.
• Meta reported quarterly EPS of $6.18, below the $7.19 consensus, but revenue of $60.80 billion exceeded expectations and increased 28% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.32, although AI spending, margin pressure and legal risks remain key investor concerns.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Erste Group Bank dropped their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $33.92 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $35.13. Erste Group Bank has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $28.84 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on META. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $770.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $594.92 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $597.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $621.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in 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 valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,715 shares of company stock worth $22,374,725. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Open-weight AI launch strengthens Meta’s strategic position. Meta released Muse Glimmer, a 30-billion-parameter agentic model that can run locally on consumer computers under an Apache 2.0 license. The move could accelerate developer adoption, improve Meta’s AI products and advertising systems, and challenge closed-model providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta returns to open source with Muse Glimmer
• Positive Sentiment: Core advertising growth remains strong. Meta’s advertising revenue recently grew roughly 27.5% to 28% year over year, supported by higher ad impressions and pricing. Supporters argue that AI investments in recommendation and advertiser tools could extend user engagement and improve monetization over time. Meta's Free Cash Flow Will Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation may cushion the downside. Despite recent weakness and capital-spending concerns, Meta trades at approximately 22 times earnings, a comparatively moderate multiple for a company still producing near-30% revenue growth. Bullish analysts expect free cash flow and earnings to improve after the current AI buildout. Zuckerberg Plans to Spend $145 Billion on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Zuckerberg outlined an “AI for everyone” vision. He supports broadly accessible personal AI agents and fewer barriers for open-source development. The vision could expand Meta’s ecosystem, although the company has not shown that AI products will generate material revenue outside advertising soon. Meta launches new AI model
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the primary investor concern. Meta could spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year. The investment has sharply reduced free cash flow and pressured operating margins, while Barclays says major productivity gains remain difficult to realize. The company remains heavily reliant on advertising, with subscriptions, hardware and AI-compute monetization unlikely to replace ads at scale soon. Meta Platforms: Additional AI Revenue Preferred, But Not Essential
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang intensified. A U.S. court allowed thousands of social-media-addiction lawsuits against Meta and other technology companies to proceed. Separately, a multistate trial could expose Meta to headline penalties of up to $1.4 trillion, although the ultimate financial impact remains uncertain. US court rules Meta must face lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Investor confidence shows some caution. Crake Asset Management reduced its Meta position by 13,000 shares, a small transaction but a potential near-term sentiment headwind as investors reassess the cost and payoff of the AI expansion. Crake Asset Management trims Meta stake

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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