Zacks Research Lowers Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the social networking company will earn $5.56 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.73. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $7.60 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $26.20 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $29.25 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $627.06 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $574.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $609.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $15,406,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 12,415 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,269,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,549 shares of company stock valued at $48,993,741 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.