Q1 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Lifted by Roth Capital

Key Points

• Roth Capital raised its Q1 2026 earnings estimate for Meta Platforms to $6.82 per share from the previous $6.32, maintaining a "Buy" rating with a price target of $740.00.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 earnings per share in Q2, exceeding the consensus estimate of $5.75, along with revenue of $47.52 billion, which was above expectations.
• Large institutional investors showed increased interest in Meta, with 79.91% of the stock currently owned by these investors as they made several new position acquisitions during the first and second quarters.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Research analysts at Roth Capital boosted their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 30th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $6.82 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $6.32. Roth Capital has a "Buy" rating and a $740.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q3 2026 earnings at $7.39 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on META. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.2%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $24.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $774.26. The stock had a trading volume of 10,644,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,620,599. The company has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business's 50 day moving average price is $701.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $646.12. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $450.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,372 shares of company stock valued at $105,348,896. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.