TLDR
- BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating on META with an $835 price target after Meta announced a new Enterprise Solutions unit focused on AI tools for corporate clients.
- Meta CEO suggested the company may enter cloud computing if infrastructure investments lead to excess capacity, citing strong inbound demand for APIs and compute.
- META reported Q1 EPS of $10.44, beating estimates of $6.67 by $3.77, with revenue of $56.31 billion — up 33.1% year-over-year.
- Meta launched paid subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
- Institutions own 79.91% of META stock; the consensus analyst price target stands at $840.19, with 34 Buy ratings and 9 Hold ratings.
Meta Platforms (META) opened at $635.29 on Friday, sitting between its 52-week low of $520.26 and high of $796.25.
BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and $835 price target on Meta after the company revealed plans to build out an Enterprise Solutions unit. The new group is tasked with customizing AI tools for corporate clients and developing repeatable models to scale adoption across businesses.
BofA sees this as a chance for Meta to build a more durable revenue stream — one less tied to advertising cycles and macroeconomic swings. The firm also noted enterprise sales could provide a cushion if Meta ends up overbuilding its AI infrastructure.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders the company could enter cloud computing if excess capacity becomes available. He cited strong demand from outside companies looking to access Meta’s APIs and computing resources.
The enterprise AI solutions market, including cloud capacity, is expected to top $1 trillion by 2028. BofA flagged capacity overbuild as a potential risk that could pressure industry pricing and margins.
Strong Earnings Fuel the Bull Case
Meta’s Q1 numbers gave analysts plenty to work with. The company posted EPS of $10.44, blowing past the $6.67 consensus estimate by $3.77. Revenue came in at $56.31 billion, ahead of the $55.56 billion estimate and up 33.1% from a year ago.
Net margin sat at 32.84%, with a return on equity of 36.93%. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of $29.35.
Barclays raised its price target from $800 to $830 with an overweight rating. Truist Financial cut its target slightly from $900 to $840 but kept a Buy. Mizuho moved from $850 to $835 with an outperform. The average analyst target across coverage sits at $840.19.
Five analysts revised earnings estimates upward ahead of the next reporting period, according to InvestingPro.
New Revenue Streams Take Shape
Meta is also rolling out paid subscriptions under the Meta One umbrella — covering Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI. The company is testing subscription tiers for businesses, creators, and AI users. Analysts have flagged upside potential if adoption gains traction over time.
The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable June 25 to shareholders of record as of June 15. The ex-dividend date is June 15. On an annualized basis, the dividend works out to $2.10, or a 0.3% yield.
Profund Advisors LLC increased its META position by 24.4% in Q4, buying an additional 23,781 units and bringing its total to 121,389 — worth about $80.1 million. Institutions now own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
CFO Susan Li sold 9,195 units on May 18 at an average price of $607.84 under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, to cover tax obligations related to equity award vesting. CTO Andrew Bosworth also sold 7,847 units on the same date at $607.83 under the same type of plan.
Meta has a 50-day moving average of $617.50 and a 200-day moving average of $636.91.
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