Shares of social media giant Meta Platforms (META) rallied 65% in 2024 as the company gained investors’ confidence by improving its profitability through restructuring and streamlining efforts, enhancing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and boosting shareholder returns through dividends. Wall Street analysts remain bullish on META and expect the stock to continue to generate an attractive upside in 2025.
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Meta Platforms reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter of 2024, with a 37% rise in EPS (earnings per share) and a 19% increase in revenue. Meanwhile, the company expects a significant rise in its 2025 capital expenditure as it aims to capitalize on additional opportunities in the AI space.
Analysts Are Upbeat About META Stock
Today, JMP Securities analyst Andrew Boone boosted the price target for Meta Platforms stock to $750 from $660, while reaffirming a Buy rating. The analyst expects the company to benefit from AI integrations into ad tools and see a better multiple as the Extended Reality (XR) ambition becomes clear.
Beyond 2025, Boone believes that Meta has multiple levers to sustain growth, including growing integration of chatbots in its messaging ad products, Meta AI capturing search business, and XR in the years ahead. He thinks that while the company is currently “penalized” for its significant investments in XR, shares can re-rate as the XR opportunity gains focus. The analyst concludes that META stock deserves a premium P/E (price-to-earnings multiple based on 2026 earnings) multiple of 26x, given its dominance across AI, XR, and social engagement.
Likewise, RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson boosted the price target for META stock to $700 from $630 and reaffirmed a Buy rating. Erickson believes that once Meta Platforms passes its elevated investments phase in AI to fuel engagement share gains, the company can boost its earnings by 15% to 20% as it has the largest user base and the “deepest amount of knowledge (data) of that user base.”
Is META Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Overall, Meta Platforms earns a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 38 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell recommendation. The average META stock price target of $675.92 implies 15.4% upside potential from current levels.
Conclusion
Meta Platforms stock had a strong run in 2024, as the company delivered impressive top and bottom line growth. Most analysts expect the stock’s rally to continue in 2025, backed by enhanced capabilities and opportunities in attractive areas like AI and XR. According to TipRanks’ Smart Score System, Meta Platforms scores a “Perfect 10,” which implies that the stock has the ability to outperform the broader stock market over the long term.
