Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Falls 1.6% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 1.6% on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $681.05 and last traded at $694.25. Approximately 16,648,654 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 17,496,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $705.44.

Meta Platforms News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26.1% year over year and above the roughly $63.3 billion analyst estimate. Adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share also exceeded consensus near $6.54, reinforcing the strength of its advertising business. Meta third-quarter earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse AI assistant has surpassed 10 million users, with shopping among the leading activities. Bulls believe Muse could eventually create new subscription, commerce and enterprise revenue streams and improve advertising engagement. Meta Muse user growth
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its Buy rating, while bullish analysts cited strong ad growth and potential margin-accretive monetization of Meta’s AI products. Rosenblatt Buy rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta raised the low end of its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook to $135 billion, while maintaining a top end of $145 billion. The spending supports AI infrastructure and data centers but increases pressure on cash flow and future margins. Meta AI spending outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta plans to issue nonvoting Class C shares to help fund its AI expansion without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control. The structure may improve financing flexibility but raises investor concerns about dilution and governance. Meta new share class
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties tied to Cambridge Analytica-era privacy practices. Meta plans to appeal, but the ruling adds substantial legal and headline risk. New Mexico privacy judgment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing Muse’s high computing costs, projected Reality Labs losses of about $15 billion next year, an Australian class-action lawsuit alleging harm to children, and the departure of an AI researcher. These issues reinforce concerns that Meta’s AI strategy may take years to become profitable.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $955.00 to $855.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $860.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.94.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $662.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $629.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.