Meta's Q2 EPS missed estimates by 14%, burdened by $2.4B in legal charges and $1.2B in severance that collapsed free cash flow 91%. Rosenblatt's Barton Crockett targets $1,117 for META, implying 86% upside, betting WhatsApp AI agents will unlock high-margin commerce for millions of merchants. 55 of 62 analysts rate META a Buy with zero Sells; SNAP leads peers on consensus upside at 32% but carries far weaker conviction. It sounds nuts, but SoFi1 is giving new Active Invest users up to $3,000 in stock for a limited time, and all it takes is a $50 deposit to get started.2 See for yourself (Sponsor) Meta Platforms currently trades at $599.12, while Wall Street's consensus price target sits at $756.95, implying roughly 26.3% upside.
The company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads spent much of the past year as one of the Magnificent Seven's steadier performers. A bruising Q2 report and rising anxiety over AI capex have sliced Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) into the lower end of its 12-month range. The gap between price and consensus deserves unpacking, because the Street's highest analyst thinks it should be far wider.
Meta fell 10.47% over the past month after a Q2 print that snapped a six-quarter EPS beat streak. Revenue of $60.80 billion beat expectations by 0.85% and grew 27.96% year over year, but EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.22 estimate by 14.42%. The miss stemmed from $2.40 billion in youth-related legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance from a May headcount reduction of roughly 8,000 employees.
Operating margin compressed to 31% from 43%, and free cash flow collapsed 91.31% to $784 million as quarterly capex hit $30.12 billion. SoFi Active Invest is offering a limited-time promotion. Open an account, fund it with $50 or more, and you could receive up to $3,000 in complimentary stock for Active Invest accounts.
See for yourself by clicking here now. (Sponsor) Shares dropped from $597.37 to $527.50 in the hour after the release before clawing back part of the loss. It was company-specific weakness. Alphabet rallied on strong Cloud numbers the same week, and the S&P 500 gained through the stretch.
Meta raised the low end of FY2026 total expenses to $165 billion to $169 billion and lifted its remaining-year tax rate assumption to 15% to 17%. Sell-side conviction has barely budged. Of the 62 analysts covering Meta, 55 rate it Buy, 7 rate it Hold, and none rate it Sell.
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