Zacks Research Cuts Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now anticipates that the social networking company will earn $5.56 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $5.73. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $7.60 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $26.20 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $29.25 EPS.

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $15.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $642.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,469,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,063,326. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.55. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.