Truist is among the top bulls on Meta: it predicts its stock will rise another 35%

Shares of Meta Platforms, the social media giant and artificial intelligence developer, are gaining momentum ahead of a new rally, according to Truist Securities analyst Youssef Squali, as reported by . He raised his price target for the Facebook parent company’s stock from $763 to $1,000, Barron’s reports. This estimate implies a 35% increase from the closing price on October 12 and is the highest on Wall Street. Moreover, Truist is not the only one holding this view.

According to a Truist forecast, by 2030, the AI agent Muse—which has been well-received by users—could generate an additional $28.5 billion in revenue for Meta, including from subscriptions and payments related to the agent’s use in e-commerce.

“We continue to view Meta positively ahead of earnings and expect results at the high end of the forecast range thanks to growth in [ad] monetization and high user engagement, ” Squali wrote in a note cited by Barron’s. “AI is boosting the effectiveness of advertising, wearable devices, and Muse, which is creating new sources of non-advertising revenue through personalized superintelligence, as well as Muse’s business solutions. “In the long term, we view Meta as one of the winners in the AI space.”

At the same time, the development of AI will require massive investments, the analyst notes. According to him, investors will have to accept further growth in capital expenditures. Squali forecasts that Meta’s capex will reach $190 billion in 2027—32% more than this year. “Since revenue growth is likely to be at the upper end of expectations, and Muse is already showing the first signs of success in terms of audience growth and engagement, we believe Meta will once again make it clear that the company intends to continue aggressively expanding its infrastructure,” Squali wrote.

On Tuesday, Meta shares rose 2.5%, reaching $761.5. They have risen more than 38% from their August lows. The company launched its agent-based AI, Muse, in September, which restored investor confidence in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s artificial intelligence strategy, according to Barron’s.

Other analysts also share this optimism about Meta. Wall Street reacted positively on Monday to the unveiling of Meta’s new AI model, called Wonder, according to Barron’s. The company stated that, based on the results of public tests, Wonder is comparable to the best models from OpenAI and Anthropic and will soon be used in the Muse agent.

“We are encouraged by Meta’s rapid pace of new product launches and the emergence of an additional revenue stream through which the company can monetize its AI investments beyond its core advertising business,” Barron’s quotes Nick Jones, senior analyst at BNP Paribas Equity Research, as saying. “We are now looking forward to the third-quarter earnings call to hear initial data on the adoption of new products, as well as to see third-party metrics that will show whether the new models have impacted engagement and usage rates on Meta Muse.”

Wells Fargo was the first to set a $1,000 price target for Meta shares last week. “We expect [Meta’s management] to actively discuss the potential of AI agents,” wrote analyst Ken Gavrelski. “We believe that fiscal year 2027 will mark the trough for the company’s earnings per share within the new product cycle — similar to 2022, when Reels began to grow, although in the case of Muse, the AI-driven product cycle could potentially be much larger in scale,” he added. Gavrelski believes that after 2027, Meta will become a company “for which the market will consistently raise its forecasts, as it begins to factor in the contribution of new AI products to revenue in 2028 and beyond.”

Most analysts also view the company's stock positively: according to MarketWatch, 61 out of 79 analysts recommend buying shares of the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, seven advise holding them, and one recommends selling. Wall Street’s average price target is nearly $804, which is 8% higher than the closing price on October 12.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor