William Blair Predicts Stronger Earnings for Meta Platforms

Key Points

• William Blair analysts have increased their Q1 2026 earnings estimate for Meta Platforms to $6.11 per share, up from a prior estimate of $5.97.
• Meta Platforms reported a significant Q2 earnings beat with earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75.
• Several brokerages have issued upgraded price targets for Meta's stock, with HSBC raising it from $610 to $900 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Wednesday, July 30th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $6.11 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $5.97. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q2 2026 earnings at $6.04 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $5.91 EPS.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:META traded up $24.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $774.26. 10,644,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,620,599. The company has a fifty day moving average of $701.68 and a 200 day moving average of $646.12. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 152,372 shares of company stock worth $105,348,896. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.1% in the second quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 21,153 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $15,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,050 shares in the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the second quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 63,988 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $47,229,000 after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.0% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 35,288 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,045,000 after buying an additional 5,627 shares during the period. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the second quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,838 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Coign Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the second quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 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.