Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 2.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $614.82 and last traded at $615.52. 15,220,931 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 13,132,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $631.09.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major energy partnerships (Oklo, Terrapower) de‑risk Meta’s plan to secure baseload power for massive AI data centers; market reaction views these deals as reducing execution and supply risk for Meta’s compute buildout. Oklo Meta Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Gates’ TerraPower reported to supply reactors to Meta, reinforcing the nuclear strategy and ESG/cost benefits for large‑scale AI power needs. Bill Gates TerraPower
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a buy with a $1,117 PT and TD Cowen raised its target to $820 — signals that some sell‑side players see large upside if AI investments pay off. Analyst Notes (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta set to report Q4 and full‑year 2025 results after market close on Jan. 28 — an earnings release that will be the next definitive data point on revenue, margins and updated guidance. Earnings Release Date
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/production upside: reports say Meta and EssilorLuxottica are discussing doubling Ray‑Ban Meta smart‑glasses capacity, which could accelerate wearable revenue if demand holds. Ray‑Ban Production
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs layoffs (~10–15%, ~1,000–1,500 roles) signal a meaningful retreat from metaverse projects and are short‑term negative for sentiment and segment execution narratives. Reality Labs Layoffs (WSJ)
• Negative Sentiment: “Meta Compute” initiative implies very large capex and multiyear data‑center builds that could pressure free cash flow and heighten execution risk if ad growth softens. Analysts worry about near‑term FCF erosion. Meta Compute Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds and analyst downgrades: Indian CCI/appeals and recent bearish notes from some brokers have pressured the stock. WhatsApp Legal Challenge (India)

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.5%

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $641.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $702.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,799,940 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $155,387,000 after buying an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.