Mark Zuckerberg Is ‘Doubling Down' on AI and That's Great News for META Stock
One of the most notable investment themes in recent memory is, of course, an increasing focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Social media giant Meta Platforms (META) is not above this trend among companies. In fact, Meta Platforms is doubling down. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has gone all-in on AI, and Wall Street is clearly taking notice. META stock has jumped a notable 45% from its April low of $479.80 per share as investors rally behind the firm's growing commitment to AI innovation.
The latest jolt of momentum comes from Meta's massive $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, a leading data-labeling startup whose CEO is now joining Meta's artificial general intelligence (AGI) team. This move comes right after Meta raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to as much as $72 billion. That figure underlines just how serious Zuckerberg is about leading the AI race.
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Despite such heavy spending, the market response has remained positive. With several analysts across the Street hiking their price targets for META stock and optimism running high, this AI-fueled rally is hard to ignore. All signs point to Meta remaining a major player in the next tech era — and that makes shares worth a much closer look.
Meta Platforms has evolved far beyond its Facebook roots. As the powerhouse behind Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, it still shapes how the world connects. But now the firm is setting its sights on the future of AI. Aside from its latest $14.3 billion bet on Scale AI, Meta has been steadily integrating AI into its core platforms since last year.
In April 2025, the company launched Meta AI, a chatbot assistant that has already reached 1 billion monthly active users across its apps. Meta is also gaining traction in hardware, with AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses seeing user growth surge. Finally, the company is working on harnessing AI to supercharge ad targeting and boost user engagement across its entire app family, including Instagram and WhatsApp. META stock drew fresh attention on June 16, climbing 2.8% after the company announced plans to roll out ads within its WhatsApp messaging platform, unlocking a powerful new revenue stream from the app's massive global user base.
Valued at around $1.75 trillion by market capitalization, Meta's aggressive AI strategy and new revenue channels are turning into a clear market win. The stock has climbed 18.8% so far in 2025, outshining most of its 'Magnificent Seven' peers. It's also outperforming the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) by a wide margin, with the benchmark up just 1.7% year-to-date.
Meta kicked off fiscal 2025 with a blowout first-quarter earnings report on April 30, easily beating Wall Street's expectations on both the top and bottom lines. META stock jumped 4.2% in the following session as revenue surged 16% year-over-year (YOY) to $42.3 billion, topping forecasts of $41.2 billion. Even more impressive, earnings per share soared 37% to $6.43, crushing estimates by a notable 23.2% margin.
Meta's ad business is showing serious strength, with key metrics moving solidly in the right direction. Ad impressions rose 5% YOY while the average price per ad jumped 10% YOY, signaling strong demand. And it's not just the ad side that's thriving. User engagement remains sky-high. In March 2025, Meta's family of apps reached 3.4 billion daily active users, up 6% from the prior year.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted Meta's accelerating AI momentum, citing the success of Meta AI and the growing adoption of the firm's AI-powered smart glasses. Meta is heading into the second quarter with strong momentum, forecasting revenue to range between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion.
The company is also raising the bar on spending, boosting its 2025 capital expenditure outlook to a range of $64 billion to $72 billion, up from the previous range of $60 billion to $65 billion. This increase highlights Meta's sharpened focus on scaling its AI capabilities, with significant investments being poured into data centers to support its rapidly growing infrastructure.
Wall Street is growing increasingly bullish on Meta, with major firms raising their price targets amid the company's aggressive AI push and new monetization strategies. Earlier this month, JPMorgan lifted its target on the stock to $735 from $675, reaffirming an 'Overweight' rating and highlighting Meta's dominant social media footprint and long-term growth strategy, particularly in AI and the Metaverse.
Wells Fargo is also staying bullish on META stock, reiterating its 'Overweight' rating with a $664 target. The firm pointed to a potential $6 billion boost in WhatsApp ad revenue, a move that signals Meta's next big income stream is already in motion.
Adding to the momentum, Oppenheimer bumped its price target to $775 from $665, citing a stronger-than-expected ad market and macro backdrop. While acknowledging some mixed feedback around Llama 4, the firm emphasized investor confidence in Meta's $14.3 billion Scale AI deal and its broader ability to 'unlock new business with AI.'
Overall, Wall Street is giving Meta the green light with a 'Strong Buy' consensus that signals broad confidence in the company's growth trajectory and AI-driven future. Of the 53 analysts offering recommendations, 44 give META stock a 'Strong Buy' rating, three suggest a 'Moderate Buy,' four give it a 'Hold," and only two advocate for a 'Strong Sell" rating.
META stock's average analyst price target of $704.57 indicates marginal upside potential from current price levels. However, the Street-high price target of $935 suggests that shares can still rally as much as 34% from here.
On the date of publication, Anushka Mukherji did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
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