Erste Group Bank Cuts Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank lowered their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the social networking company will earn $33.92 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $35.13. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $28.84 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on META. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of META stock opened at $594.92 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $597.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $621.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,715 shares of company stock valued at $22,374,725. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Open-weight AI launch strengthens Meta’s strategic position. Meta released Muse Glimmer, a 30-billion-parameter agentic model that can run locally on consumer computers under an Apache 2.0 license. The move could accelerate developer adoption, improve Meta’s AI products and advertising systems, and challenge closed-model providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta returns to open source with Muse Glimmer
• Positive Sentiment: Core advertising growth remains strong. Meta’s advertising revenue recently grew roughly 27.5% to 28% year over year, supported by higher ad impressions and pricing. Supporters argue that AI investments in recommendation and advertiser tools could extend user engagement and improve monetization over time. Meta’s Free Cash Flow Will Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation may cushion the downside. Despite recent weakness and capital-spending concerns, Meta trades at approximately 22 times earnings, a comparatively moderate multiple for a company still producing near-30% revenue growth. Bullish analysts expect free cash flow and earnings to improve after the current AI buildout. Zuckerberg Plans to Spend $145 Billion on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Zuckerberg outlined an “AI for everyone” vision. He supports broadly accessible personal AI agents and fewer barriers for open-source development. The vision could expand Meta’s ecosystem, although the company has not shown that AI products will generate material revenue outside advertising soon. Meta launches new AI model
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the primary investor concern. Meta could spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year. The investment has sharply reduced free cash flow and pressured operating margins, while Barclays says major productivity gains remain difficult to realize. The company remains heavily reliant on advertising, with subscriptions, hardware and AI-compute monetization unlikely to replace ads at scale soon. Meta Platforms: Additional AI Revenue Preferred, But Not Essential
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang intensified. A U.S. court allowed thousands of social-media-addiction lawsuits against Meta and other technology companies to proceed. Separately, a multistate trial could expose Meta to headline penalties of up to $1.4 trillion, although the ultimate financial impact remains uncertain. US court rules Meta must face lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Investor confidence shows some caution. Crake Asset Management reduced its Meta position by 13,000 shares, a small transaction but a potential near-term sentiment headwind as investors reassess the cost and payoff of the AI expansion. Crake Asset Management trims Meta stake

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.