Why Zuckerberg's META Sales Look More Bullish Than Bearish

Key Points

• Meta's Q2 2025 earnings marked the firm's biggest standout performance of 2025.
• However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sold tens of millions worth of Meta stock since.
• Disclosures reveal that these sales are not something to fret, and may even be a bullish signal.

Shares of Magnificent Seven stock Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META have gone on an extremely impressive run thus far in 2025. Year to date, the stock has provided a total return of just over 26%. That ranks second among its Mag 7 peers, with NVIDIA’s NASDAQ: NVDA surge over the past month putting shares up over 30%.

A string of strong earnings releases has aided Meta’s rise. The company beat on both sales and adjusted earnings per share in January, April, and July. Notably, shares rose in the subsequent trading session each time. By far, Meta’s most impressive report was its latest one. It beat sales estimates by around 6% and adjusted EPS estimates by 22%, causing shares to gain 11% the following day.

However, since then, Meta founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg has been selling. From the company’s Q2 2025 earnings release through mid-August, MarketBeat found he sold nearly $62 million worth of Meta shares. With the stock’s post-earnings surge, that raises the question of whether these sales are a red flag. Below, we explain why the truth may be just the opposite.

Filings and Disclosures Suggest Zuckerberg’s Bullishness May Be Growing

Since Meta’s 11% post-earnings gain, shares have traded down more than 4%. At first glance, this may make Zuckerberg’s sales seem like an expertly timed move. However, the reality of the situation is that Zuckerberg’s sales are routine rather than predictive. Zuckerberg's SEC Form 4 filings reveal that he made all of his sales in August under Rule 10b5-1. Under this rule, company insiders create a plan to sell a predetermined number of shares within a predetermined timeline. It is a key way that insiders gain liquidity and provides an “affirmative defense to insider trading liability." The predetermined nature of these sales shows they are nothing for investors to fear.

Adding to this argument: Zuckerberg has sold far fewer shares this year than over the same stretch last year—about 708,000 in 2025, down roughly 59% from ~1.7 million in 2024. Notably, insiders must disclose certain details of their 10b5-1 plans, and changes in those disclosures can offer useful insight into how Zuckerberg may feel about Meta going forward.

On Feb. 1, Zuckerberg entered a 10b5-1 plan that allows for the sale of up to 284,660 shares through Nov. 22. This compares to the previous plan he entered on Aug. 9, 2024, to sell up to 2.22 million shares through May 23, 2025. This indicates that Zuckerberg now has the ability to sell significantly fewer shares than he could under his previous plan. This sharp reduction in the ability to sell indicates that Zuckerberg may now have greater confidence in Meta’s outlook. The fact that he has actually sold many fewer shares in 2025 strengthens this signal. Still, various personal reasons outside of his outlook on Meta could have influenced these decisions.

Zuckerberg Needs Liquidity Too

Investors should also note that since the beginning of November 2023, MarketBeat data shows that Zuckerberg has only sold shares of Meta and has not made any purchases.

Over that time, Zuckerberg’s sales of Meta stock equate to approximately $1.7 billion in value. This comes even though Meta stock is up around 139% over that period. If Zuckerberg hadn’t sold these shares at all, he likely could have added multiple billions of dollars to his net worth. However, he also wouldn’t have had billions in cash to actually spend during that time.

This helps crystallize the point that investors should not worry about Zuckerberg’s recent sales of Meta shares. At the end of the day, stock market gains are just on paper until you sell. Aside from dividends, they don’t provide income or allow for purchases until turned into cash. That is true for anyone, including Zuckerberg.

Price Targets Signal Significant Upside Ahead for Meta

Overall, the outlook for Meta shares continues to be a bullish one. Currently, the MarketBeat consensus price target on the stock is approximately $822. This implies around 11% upside compared to Meta’s Aug. 21 closing price. However, price targets updated since the firm’s July 30 earnings release are considerably more favorable. The average of those targets is $871, suggesting that shares could rise by nearly 18%.