TLDR
- Meta Platforms (META) stock fell about 4% Monday ahead of its Q3 report on Wednesday, October 21, after the close.
- Options pricing points to a move of up to 6% either way, a range of roughly $660 to $754.
- Analysts expect revenue of about $63.3 billion, up roughly 24% from a year ago.
- Analyst sentiment is bullish, with a mean target of $878 and a Strong Buy rating on TipRanks.
- Investors are watching ad growth, Reality Labs losses and AI spending.
Meta Platforms (META) stock fell about 4% on Monday as traders got ready for the company’s third-quarter report. The results are due Wednesday after the market closes.
Options pricing points to a move of up to 6% in either direction by the end of the week. From Friday’s close, that range runs from about $660 to as high as $754.
The stock is up about 7% for the year. It rallied last month on early signs of success with the Muse AI agent, then pulled back on worries about AI spending.
Wall Street expects revenue of about $63.3 billion, up roughly 24% from a year ago. Earnings per share estimates differ by source, at $5.60 in one report and $6.60 in another.
Last year’s EPS was $1.05, when a large tax bill weighed on net profit. That makes the year-over-year comparison look steep.
What Analysts Are Saying
Analysts lean heavily bullish. Visible Alpha shows 18 of 19 analysts rate the stock a buy, with one neutral.
Their mean price target is $878, nearly 25% above Friday’s close. TipRanks shows a Strong Buy consensus, with 39 Buys and six Holds.
TipRanks puts its average target at $831.45, which implies about 17% upside. The two figures differ because each provider tracks a different group of analysts.
Deutsche Bank told clients that Muse and other recent AI launches put Meta “at the start of a rich product cycle.” The firm sees them as a sign of possible returns on its AI spending.
Key Numbers to Watch
Family daily active people reached 3.60 billion in June, up from 3.48 billion a year earlier. In March, the figure was 3.56 billion.
Advertising remains the main driver. Ad revenue hit $59.36 billion in the second quarter, up from $46.56 billion a year earlier.
Payments and other revenue came in at $1.01 billion. Reality Labs brought in $431 million.
Reality Labs posted an operating loss of $4.62 billion in Q2, compared with $4.53 billion a year before. That loss keeps weighing on the bottom line.
Family of Apps earned $23.39 billion in operating income in Q2, down from $24.97 billion in the same quarter last year. So profit from the core business slipped even as sales grew.
Meta reports Wednesday, October 21, after the close. The stock fell 3.72% on Monday, and the analyst mean target sits at $878.
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