Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Meta shares gapped up before trading, opening at $660.34 after closing at $631.48 and last trading around $669.60, reflecting a roughly 6% jump.
• AI initiatives are a major driver behind bullish sentiment, including plans to start in-house AI chip production in September and roll out more AI tools that could reduce costs and improve competitiveness.
• Regulatory pressure remains a risk, as the European Commission escalated its probe into Instagram and Facebook’s “addictive” design features, potentially exposing Meta to fines or product changes.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $631.48, but opened at $660.34. Meta Platforms shares last traded at $669.6030, with a volume of 10,369,805 shares traded.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP cut its price target to $800 from $825, but maintained a “market outperform” rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Read More
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push remained a major catalyst, with reports that it will begin producing its in-house AI chip in September and launch more AI tools, including the Muse Spark 1.1 model and developer API access, which could lower costs and improve competitiveness. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reportedly highlighted Meta as one of its favorite stocks, reinforcing bullish Wall Street sentiment around the company’s earnings power and AI strategy. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s planned $9.1 billion AI data center in Alberta and related energy agreements signal continued heavy investment in infrastructure, which bulls view as a long-term advantage in AI capacity and efficiency. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted Meta is competing more directly with Alphabet, OpenAI, and Anthropic in AI, which underscores the opportunity but also highlights intense industry competition. Article
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission escalated its probe into Meta’s Instagram and Facebook “addictive” design features, saying the company may be breaching EU digital rules and could face fines or product changes. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports about potential large EU penalties and a separate youth-safety backlash add to regulatory overhang for Meta and may keep pressure on the shares. Article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $838.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $626.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock worth $27,565,292 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Bayban increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.

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