Midday Stock Highlights: Notable Movements from Meta Platforms, Kroger, SAIC, PVH, Snowflake, and Others
Meta Platforms: Shares rose 4% as CEO Mark Zuckerberg considers significant cuts to the metaverse group, potentially reducing the workforce by 30% by 2026.
Kroger and PVH Corp.: Kroger's stock fell 6.5% due to disappointing third-quarter revenue, while PVH Corp. dropped 10% after issuing weak fourth-quarter guidance, missing analyst expectations.
Science Applications International and Dollar General: SAIC's shares surged 17% after beating earnings expectations and raising future guidance, while Dollar General's stock rose 11% following an increase in full-year earnings guidance.
Salesforce and UiPath: Salesforce's shares increased 2.5% after raising fourth-quarter revenue guidance, while UiPath's stock soared 20% due to better-than-expected third-quarter results.
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Meta Platforms Forecasts $135 Billion Capex for AI in 2026
- Significant Revenue Growth: Meta Platforms reported a 24% year-over-year revenue increase to $59.9 billion for the quarter, with full-year revenue surpassing $200 billion, reflecting strong performance in its advertising and app businesses, thereby reinforcing its market leadership.
- Capex Forecast: The company anticipates capital expenditures to reach between $115 billion and $135 billion in 2026, representing a 73% increase from 2025, primarily driven by investments in Meta Superintelligence Labs and its core business, showcasing its strong commitment to the AI sector.
- Impact on AI Industry: The substantial increase in Meta's capex is likely to positively affect the AI industry, particularly benefiting partners like CoreWeave, which could enhance their market performance and accelerate the application and development of AI technologies.
- Positive Market Reaction: Following the earnings report, Meta's stock rose 8% in after-hours trading, indicating investor optimism regarding the company's growth potential, especially in light of accelerated AI investments, significantly boosting market confidence in its long-term strategy.

Meta's Earnings Beat Expectations, Analysts Raise Price Targets
- Strong Earnings: Meta reported fourth-quarter earnings of $8.88 per share and revenue of $59.89 billion, both exceeding market expectations, indicating that AI-driven advertising monetization is alleviating concerns over rising operating and capital expenditures.
- Robust Guidance: The company expects first-quarter sales to range between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion, significantly above the consensus estimate of $51.41 billion, suggesting strong growth momentum in its advertising business that reinforces its market position.
- AI Investment Returns: Despite a $6.02 billion operating loss from Reality Labs, analysts remain optimistic about Meta's AI investments, believing that the growth in its advertising business will offset these losses, with benefits from AI expected to materialize by 2026.
- Analyst Optimism: Several Wall Street analysts raised their price targets for Meta, with Barclays increasing its target to $800, implying a 20% upside, reflecting confidence in Meta's long-term growth potential.






