Roth Capital Expects Stronger Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at Roth Capital raised their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $6.92 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $6.48. Roth Capital currently has a “Buy” rating and a $740.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2026 earnings at $9.00 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $727.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $732.78 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $669.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $632.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,273 shares of company stock worth $105,091,830. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.