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Investing.com - Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) to $850 from $825 while maintaining a Buy rating on Wednesday. The social media giant, currently trading at $710.39 and commanding a market cap of $1.79 trillion, continues to show strong momentum with its shares trading near the 52-week high of $747.90.
The firm expects Meta to report solid Q2 results with ad revenue growth remaining in the mid-teens year-over-year, despite modest quarter-over-quarter deceleration partly due to tariff-driven uncertainty affecting budget deployments earlier in the quarter. With earnings scheduled for July 30 and the company maintaining impressive gross profit margins of 81.77%, InvestingPro subscribers can access 14 additional key insights and detailed financial metrics to prepare for the upcoming report.
Canaccord forecasts ad revenue and total revenue to both increase approximately 14% year-over-year in Q2, compared to 16% growth in Q1, with expected operating income of $16.7 billion representing a 37.5% margin, slightly below consensus.
The firm notes that Meta’s growth likely remained supported by continued AI-driven improvements to content creation and ads recommendation models, including a new generative ads recommendation model introduced in Q1 that is twice as efficient as legacy models.
Despite Meta shares trading near all-time highs, Canaccord believes the setup remains compelling, particularly moving into fiscal year 2026, with several potential tailwinds including further automation of key advertiser functions, ads on WhatsApp and Threads, and a possible general release of the WhatsApp Business chatbot offering.
In other recent news, Meta Platforms has seen several updates from financial analysts and industry developments. Cantor Fitzgerald has increased its price target for Meta to $828, maintaining an Overweight rating, and anticipates the company will exceed consensus estimates in its second-quarter 2025 earnings due to strong performance in its core advertising business. BofA Securities also raised its price target to $775, highlighting Meta’s expansion into AI with plans for significant data center projects, which suggests increased future capital expenditures. Citi continues to regard Meta as a top pick with a price target of $803, noting improvements in AI advertising tools despite a slight decline in Instagram Sponsored Reels ad load. Additionally, Citizens JMP reiterated a Market Outperform rating with a $750 price target, acknowledging Meta’s challenges with its Llama AI model but expressing optimism about its potential to close the AI gap. Meanwhile, ByteDance is developing mixed reality goggles to compete with Meta’s similar product set for release in 2027, indicating ongoing competition in the AR and VR market. These developments reflect Meta’s ongoing efforts to expand its technological capabilities and maintain its position in the digital advertising and AI sectors.
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