After a month-long slump in its stock, Meta Platforms (META) is up 11% following an earnings report that beat expectations. The stock rocketed as much as 12% on Thursday after its Q2 2025 earnings beat expectations and outlined a strong outlook for the quarter ahead. The Facebook developer saw a 22% revenue increase to $47.52 billion, driven by AI-powered advertising.
Shares of the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant have gained 31% since Meta reported its Q1 results in late April. The stock has been helped by easing tariff concerns and Meta’s strong outlook, which it provided with its Q1 results. In addition, it’s seen a heavier lean towards AI under Zuckerberg’s recent plans for AI advertising. The Meta CEO has pledged to spend “hundreds of billions” on AI infrastructure, including building a Manhattan-sized data center. Based on the stock’s 22% gains year-to-date, META investors are welcoming the approach.
Q2 earnings further showcased Meta’s commitment to its AI spending and new AI-forward thinking. The company was already on track to spend more than 30% of this year’s revenue on capital expenditures, compared with about 15% to 20% historically. Zuckerberg recently doubled down on investing billions into these artificial-intelligence researchers.
Also Read: Microsoft (MSFT) Surges on Earnings Beat, $4 Trillion Market Cap
How META Stock Is Responding.
Stock analysts project META price targets ranging from $585 to $803, indicating potential upside from the current market price of $695.21. Additionally, Insiders recently completed 5 stock sales totaling $1,826,608.05 from July 8 to July 28, 2025, reflecting routine sales by executives.
Meta stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 54 analysts actively covering the stock, according to BarChart. Meanwhile, CNN rates the stock a 10/10, with 86% of 72 analysts surveyed suggesting to buy now. Its gains and innovations this year, compared to rivals Microsoft and Google, are incredibly promising. So far, while its expenditure is high, Meta’s revenue has countered it enough to make all of the AI investments worth it.