Roth Capital Increases Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Roth Capital upped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $6.36 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $6.08. Roth Capital currently 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 2025 earnings at $6.10 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.42 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $26.30 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $6.32 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.69 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $28.92 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 target price (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $727.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $6.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $725.81. The company had a trading volume of 5,450,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,470,902. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $669.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $632.53.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,360,362. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,273 shares of company stock worth $105,091,830. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.