AI Spending Isn't the Main Concern — Speculative Junk Poses the Greatest Risk to the Stock Market
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 30 2025
0mins
Should l Buy META?
Source: CNBC
Alternative Investments Overview: The article discusses various alternative investments, including quantum companies, crypto-related firms, and alternative auto parts, highlighting the speculative nature and challenges associated with these investments.
Speculation vs. Equities: The author emphasizes the importance of investing in equities over speculative trading, advocating for a balanced portfolio that includes index funds, growth stocks, and wise speculation.
Market Corruption Concerns: There is a critique of the current investment landscape, suggesting that large firms promote speculative instruments for profit, potentially leading to a repeat of past market failures.
Investor Awareness and Information Access: The article notes that today's investors have more access to information than ever before, challenging the notion that individual investors cannot successfully pick stocks, while also warning about the risks of speculative investments.
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Analyst Views on META
Wall Street analysts forecast META stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for META is 824.71 USD with a low forecast of 655.15 USD and a high forecast of 1117 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
44 Analyst Rating
37 Buy
6 Hold
1 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 670.210
Low
655.15
Averages
824.71
High
1117
Current: 670.210
Low
655.15
Averages
824.71
High
1117
About META
Meta Platforms, Inc. is building human connections, powered by artificial intelligence and immersive technologies. The Company's products enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets, augmented reality (AR), and wearables. It also helps people discover and learn about what is going on in the world around them, enabling people to share their experiences, ideas, photos, videos, and other content with audiences ranging from their closest family members and friends to the public at large. The Company's segments include Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL). FoA segment includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads. RL segment includes its virtual, augmented, and mixed reality related consumer hardware, software and content. Its product offerings in VR include its Meta Quest devices, as well as software and content available through the Meta Horizon Store.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Profitability Pressure: As capital expenditures rise, Meta's depreciation expenses increased by 20% in 2025 and are expected to rise further in 2026, leading to a decline in operating margin from 48% in Q4 2024 to 41%, although management still anticipates overall operating income growth.
- AI-Driven Revenue Growth: Meta achieved a 24% revenue growth in Q4, driven by increased user engagement and stable ad price hikes, demonstrating its effectiveness in AI applications and market potential.
- Generative AI Potential: Meta is planning to leverage generative AI to attract more advertisers, combining personalized content and shopping agent features, which is expected to generate substantial ad revenue and further solidify its market position.
See More
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- Election Outcome: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured a supermajority in the recent elections, allowing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to return to power, which indicates strong voter support for her administration.
- Economic Policy Initiatives: Takaichi's agenda includes increasing defense spending and suspending certain food-related taxes, which is expected to stimulate economic growth and enhance consumer confidence, positively impacting Japan's economy.
- Market Reaction: Following the election results, Japanese stocks reached a record high, with the yen strengthening to 156.88 per dollar, reflecting renewed investor confidence in the government's future policies and economic direction.
- International Market Trends: U.S. markets also showed strong performance post-election, with major index futures rising, indicating global investor interest in tech stocks, particularly in the AI sector, further contributing to the overall market recovery.
See More
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See More
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- Surging Memory Demand: Micron dominates in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and NAND chips, with forecasts indicating the memory market could grow to $100 billion by 2028, highlighting the accelerating demand for memory chips.
- Capital Expenditure Driving Price Increases: With big tech expected to spend over $500 billion on AI infrastructure, shortages in HBM solutions are anticipated, with TrendForce research suggesting DRAM and NAND prices could soar by 60% and 38%, respectively, in Q1 alone.
- Attractive Valuation: Micron currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 12, significantly lower than other leaders in the AI chip market, and combined with the multi-year supercycle for HBM chips, this indicates strong investment potential for Micron stock.
See More
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- Massive Market Potential: According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the total addressable market for AI accelerators is expected to grow at a 16% CAGR through 2033, reaching $604 billion, providing strong market support for Micron Technology.
- Surging Memory Demand: Micron's management forecasts that the memory market will grow from $35 billion in 2025 to $100 billion by 2028, indicating a much faster acceleration in demand for memory chips compared to the GPU market.
- Capex Driving Price Increases: Big tech is expected to spend over $500 billion on AI infrastructure this year, leading to shortages in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) solutions, with TrendForce research suggesting DRAM and NAND chip prices could soar by 60% and 38%, respectively, in Q1 alone.
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See More
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- Investor Sentiment Shift: Following earnings calls from tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, investor confusion about future directions led to Amazon losing over $300 billion in market cap, reflecting strong skepticism regarding its $200 billion AI investment plan.
- Capital Expenditure Comparison: Google announced an increase in capital expenditures to $175 billion to $185 billion, exceeding the expected $115 billion to $120 billion, indicating a proactive approach in AI despite challenges from slowing ad revenues.
- Changing Competitive Landscape: With Alphabet's ongoing investments and successes in AI, YouTube's user base has grown to 750 million, and Waymo's self-driving business is outpacing Tesla, suggesting a strengthening competitive advantage that may attract more investor interest.
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See More
