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After reporting fantastic earnings results for Q2, Magnificent Seven stock Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) just got more great news: a wave of Wall Street analyst upgrades.
Since releasing results on July 30, we tracked around two dozen analysts who lifted their price targets on the stock.
So, just how much upside do these new targets see in Meta Platforms after the stock surged more than 11% following the report?
Let’s take a deep dive below.
Latest Forecasts Boost Meta’s Upside Potential Big-Time
In Q2, Meta more than delivered on essentially all the key metrics markets were watching. The firm beat estimates on sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by wide margins, and its key performance indicators showed impressive improvements. This resulted in a plethora of analysts boosting their forecasts on the stock on July 31 and Aug. 1. Overall, the average price target among these analysts increased by nearly 15%. That’s notably higher than the stock’s 11% up move, suggesting that these analysts were even more bullish on the results than the market was.
Currently, the MarketBeat-tracked consensus price target on Meta is around $820. This number includes price targets from analysts who updated their forecasts after the results, as well as those who have not. It implies less than 6% upside in Meta shares compared to their Aug. 4 closing price of $776. However, focusing only on price targets updated after the results makes the stock look much more enticing to investors. The average price target among those analysts is around $866. This number suggests shares could rise by nearly 12%, double the upside implied by the consensus target. Clearly, as analysts incorporate the latest information into their forecasts, they are becoming more bullish on the stock. This is a great sign for investors, adding weight to the prospect of Meta’s rally continuing.
CapEx in Focus: Why Meta’s Slight Guidance Increase Is a Strong Sign
A part of Meta’s latest earnings report that deserves significant attention is its capital expenditure (CapEx) guidance. The company boosted its forecasts by a very moderate amount compared to other hyperscalers. CapEx is a cost; keeping a lid on it is key to driving strong internal returns on investment (ROI). Strong internal ROI eventually benefits share prices as a company’s financials improve.
Meta raised the midpoint of its CapEx guidance to $69 billion, only around 1.5% higher than the $68 billion it previously outlined. Meanwhile, Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) now expects to spend $85 billion on CapEx in 2025, around 13% more than its previous forecast. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).com’s 2025 CapEx could now hit around $118 billion in 2025, an 18% increase from its past guidance of $100 billion. Microsoft’s guidance for $30 billion in CapEx next quarter was above analyst expectations and would be a 24% increase from its spending a quarter ago. Among these names, Meta issued the lowest increase in its CapEx guidance by far.
All these companies delivered solid results last quarter regarding artificial intelligence. However, Meta’s low CapEx guidance increase really makes the firm stand out. It shows that the company believes it can continue driving these strong results in 2025 without massively increasing the amount it spends to do so. Keeping these costs down comparatively benefits its internal ROI, significantly strengthening its investment case. Still, Meta could massively increase its CapEx guidance in future quarters, making this a key variable to watch.
Which Multi-Trillion Dollar Hyperscaler Do Analysts See the Most Upside In?
Meta, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet, and Amazon are the four largest hyperscaler stocks in the world, all boasting market capitalizations above $1 trillion. All four have recently reported earnings. So, with critical new data now available to analysts, which stock do they see the most upside in?
However, for investors, a stock that actually delivers results is what’s important, and Meta has done just that in 2025.
As of the Aug. 4 close, the stock’s 33% total return is the best among this group.