Reddit Shares Decline Despite Solid Earnings; Wall Street Weighs Future Prospects.
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 2d ago
0mins
Should l Buy META?
Source: Barron's
- Reddit's Stock Performance: Reddit's shares are experiencing a decline despite the company reporting positive financial results.
- Market Reactions: Wall Street is currently debating the future direction of the social media company following these results.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Stop guessing "Should I Buy META?" and start using high-conviction signals backed by rigorous historical data.
Sign up today to access powerful investing tools and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
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.
Meta Increases AI Investment, Profitability Under Pressure
- AI Budget Surge: Meta plans to increase its capital expenditures to $135 billion in 2026, an 87% rise from last year, aimed at supporting its AI Superintelligence team, which is expected to drive future technological innovation and market competitiveness.
- 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
Micron Technology Emerges as Wall Street's New AI Chip Favorite
- Massive Market Potential: According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the total addressable market for AI accelerators is expected to grow at a 16% CAGR, reaching $604 billion by 2033, providing strong market support for Micron Technology.
- 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
Micron Technology Emerges as a Contender in AI Chip Market
- 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.
- Significant Valuation Appeal: Micron currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 12, significantly lower than other AI chip leaders, and combined with strong market trends, this gives investors confidence in its future performance.
See More
Investor Confusion in AI Competition
- 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.
- Mixed Market Reactions: Despite OpenAI and Anthropic's strong performance in AI, Microsoft's Copilot sales have been disappointing, highlighting investor concerns about its future growth and reflecting differing levels of confidence across companies.
See More
Market Divergence: Tech Stocks Under Pressure
- Market Performance Divergence: Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2.50% to a new all-time high, while the Nasdaq fell 1.84%, indicating the pressure on tech stocks and necessitating cautious investor sentiment amid potential risks.
- Tech Sector Weight Impact: With tech stocks comprising about 30% of the S&P 500's market cap, their underperformance can drag down the overall index even when other sectors perform well, highlighting the need for investors to monitor signals of sector rotation closely.
- Consumer Staples vs. Discretionary: The recent outperformance of consumer staples (XLP) over discretionary spending (XLY) may signal economic slowdown risks, prompting investors to pay attention to how this shift affects market sentiment and investment strategies.
- Ethereum Price Decline: Ethereum has fallen below the technical support level of 2600-2800, potentially heading towards the 1650-1750 range; if it stabilizes at this level, it could represent one of the best buying opportunities in years, warranting close observation from investors.
See More
Nvidia's Financial Outlook Appears Promising Ahead of Earnings Report
- Surge in Capital Expenditure: Microsoft invested $88.2 billion in AI in 2025 and is on track to exceed that in 2026, indicating strong commitment to AI demand, which will further drive Nvidia's GPU requirements.
- Strong Cloud Demand: Google anticipates capital expenditures of $180 billion in 2026, primarily for servers and data centers, underscoring sustained demand for AI solutions, positioning Nvidia as a key beneficiary.
- Solid Market Share: Nvidia holds a commanding 92% share of the data center GPU market, with its four largest customers (Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google) accounting for 40% of its sales, highlighting the company's robust competitive edge in AI.
- Optimistic Earnings Outlook: Nvidia expects a 65% year-over-year revenue growth for Q4 of fiscal 2026, up from 62% in Q3, and if actual results exceed expectations, it will further boost investor confidence and drive stock price appreciation.
See More
Meta Increases AI Investment, Profitability Under Pressure
- AI Budget Surge: Meta plans to increase its capital expenditures to $135 billion in 2026, an 87% rise from last year, aimed at supporting its AI Superintelligence team, which is expected to drive future technological innovation and market competitiveness.
- 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
Micron Technology Emerges as Wall Street's New AI Chip Favorite
- Massive Market Potential: According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the total addressable market for AI accelerators is expected to grow at a 16% CAGR, reaching $604 billion by 2033, providing strong market support for Micron Technology.
- 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
Micron Technology Emerges as a Contender in AI Chip Market
- 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.
- Significant Valuation Appeal: Micron currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 12, significantly lower than other AI chip leaders, and combined with strong market trends, this gives investors confidence in its future performance.
See More
Investor Confusion in AI Competition
- 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.
- Mixed Market Reactions: Despite OpenAI and Anthropic's strong performance in AI, Microsoft's Copilot sales have been disappointing, highlighting investor concerns about its future growth and reflecting differing levels of confidence across companies.
See More
Market Divergence: Tech Stocks Under Pressure
- Market Performance Divergence: Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2.50% to a new all-time high, while the Nasdaq fell 1.84%, indicating the pressure on tech stocks and necessitating cautious investor sentiment amid potential risks.
- Tech Sector Weight Impact: With tech stocks comprising about 30% of the S&P 500's market cap, their underperformance can drag down the overall index even when other sectors perform well, highlighting the need for investors to monitor signals of sector rotation closely.
- Consumer Staples vs. Discretionary: The recent outperformance of consumer staples (XLP) over discretionary spending (XLY) may signal economic slowdown risks, prompting investors to pay attention to how this shift affects market sentiment and investment strategies.
- Ethereum Price Decline: Ethereum has fallen below the technical support level of 2600-2800, potentially heading towards the 1650-1750 range; if it stabilizes at this level, it could represent one of the best buying opportunities in years, warranting close observation from investors.
See More
Nvidia's Financial Outlook Appears Promising Ahead of Earnings Report
- Surge in Capital Expenditure: Microsoft invested $88.2 billion in AI in 2025 and is on track to exceed that in 2026, indicating strong commitment to AI demand, which will further drive Nvidia's GPU requirements.
- Strong Cloud Demand: Google anticipates capital expenditures of $180 billion in 2026, primarily for servers and data centers, underscoring sustained demand for AI solutions, positioning Nvidia as a key beneficiary.
- Solid Market Share: Nvidia holds a commanding 92% share of the data center GPU market, with its four largest customers (Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google) accounting for 40% of its sales, highlighting the company's robust competitive edge in AI.
- Optimistic Earnings Outlook: Nvidia expects a 65% year-over-year revenue growth for Q4 of fiscal 2026, up from 62% in Q3, and if actual results exceed expectations, it will further boost investor confidence and drive stock price appreciation.
See More
