Meta Platforms (META) is at a critical crossroads. Earlier this month, the tech giant announced that it was pausing the international launch of its long-awaited Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, citing unprecedented demand in the US and limited global inventory as the key reasons for the delay.
Originally scheduled to launch in Europe and Canada in early 2026, the ambitious wearable, which fuses augmented reality with everyday glasses, will now remain focused on the United States as Meta works to fulfill domestic orders and refine its production strategy. While the move underscores strong consumer interest, it also highlights supply chain constraints and execution challenges that could impact Meta’s broader hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.
Meta has been developing smart glasses with Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica since 2019 and renewed their long-term partnership in 2024. CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses last year, Meta’s first consumer-ready AI glasses, allowing users to watch videos and respond to messages using a neural technology wristband.
In this context, can META shares be bought, sold or held at this time?
Meta Platforms is a Menlo Park, California-based technology conglomerate best known for owning and operating some of the world’s most influential social media and communications platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads. Originally founded as Facebook in 2004, the company was renamed Meta in 2021 to reflect its strategic pivot toward immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and the metaverse.
In addition to its flagship applications, Meta develops AI-based hardware and products through divisions such as Reality Labs, which encompass virtual reality headsets and smart glasses. Meta’s market capitalization is nearly $1.65 trillion, placing it among the largest technology companies in the world.
However, Meta’s share price has seen significant volatility over the past year as investors weigh its core advertising strength against high spending on artificial intelligence and infrastructure.
Over the past 52 weeks, META stock has traded in a wide range, hitting a high of around $796.25 in August 2025 and a low of around $479.80 in April 2025, illustrating the stock’s substantial swings amid changing market sentiment. The current stock price is 21.93% below its 52-week high, and the stock closed around $653.06 in the last session. Meta’s trailing 12-month performance has been relatively modest compared to broader benchmarks, with gains of just 5%.
Looking back over longer horizons, Meta stock has generated significant multi-year gains, generating returns of 376.76% over the past three years as the company expanded its dominance in digital advertising and invested in next-generation technologies.
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META is currently trading at a premium to the industry median of 21.09 times forward earnings.
Meta released its third quarter 2025 earnings on October 29, 2025, reporting solid revenue growth but a mixed results outlook. For the quarter ending September 30, 2025, Meta’s total revenue increased to $51.2 billion, representing approximately 26% year-over-year growth from $40.6 billion in Q3 2024, driven largely by continued expansion of digital advertising and increased engagement across its family of apps. Advertising impressions increased by around 14% and the average price per ad increased by around 10%, underscoring the effectiveness of Meta’s monetization strategies.
Despite impressive revenue growth, net income fell sharply to approximately $2.7 billion, a decline of 83% from $15.7 billion in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to a one-time, non-cash tax charge of approximately $15.9 billion. However, the adjusted numbers, excluding the tax impact, reflect an adjusted EPS of $7.25, a significant beat on estimates.
Operating income remained healthy at around $20.5 billion (up 18%), although operating margins contracted slightly as total costs and expenses rose about 32% year-over-year to around $30.7 billion amid higher spending on infrastructure and R&D.
Capital expenditures in the third quarter were substantial, driven by investment in servers, data centers and AI infrastructure, with full-year 2025 capital expenditure guidance raised to approximately $70 billion to $72 billion, reflecting the company’s aggressive push toward artificial intelligence and supporting technologies. Forecasts for the fourth quarter indicated expected revenue growth in the range of $56 billion to $59 billion.
Analysts remain optimistic, predicting that EPS will be around $29.40 by fiscal 2025, up 23.2% year-over-year, before rising another 4.2% year-on-year to $30.63 in fiscal 2026.
Cantor Fitzgerald recently raised his price target on Meta to $750 from $720, while reaffirming an “Overweight” rating, citing strong advertising momentum and a strong AI-driven growth pipeline.
Additionally, Jefferies reiterated a “Buy” rating on Meta with a $910 price target, amid the company’s long-term growth potential driven by its core social media platforms and its continued investments in artificial intelligence and metaverse technologies.
Wall Street is very bullish on META. Overall, META has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy.” Of the 55 analysts covering the stock, 44 recommend a “strong buy,” three suggest a “moderate buy,” and the remaining eight analysts stay away, giving it a “hold” rating.
The average analyst price target for META is $839.67, indicating a potential upside of 29.58%. The Street’s high price target of $1,117 suggests the stock could rise as much as 71%.
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On the date of publication, Subhasree Kar had no positions (either directly or indirectly) in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
