November 26, 2025 – US markets mid‑session update
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) is back in rally mode today. By early afternoon UTC, Meta stock was trading around $636 per share, up roughly 3.8% on the session, giving the social media and AI giant a market capitalization in the ballpark of $1.8 trillion. [1]
The move caps several days of choppy trading and comes as investors digest fresh analyst upgrades, heavy options buying, a major privacy settlement, intensifying European regulatory scrutiny, and a potential multi‑billion‑dollar AI chip deal with Google.
META stock price today: rebound on AI optimism and macro tailwinds
Pre‑market, Meta shares were already in gear: they gained about 3.8% in early trading, with AInvest attributing the jump to renewed confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and easing US inflation data that has revived expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts. [2]
A separate market note highlighted that the Nasdaq 100’s rebound is being led by big tech and semiconductor stocks, with Meta “breaking higher as dip buyers return” after the AI‑capex‑driven sell‑off that hit mega‑cap tech through late October and early November. [3]
Key price context for today:
- Last trade (approx.): $636
- One‑day move: ~+3.8%
- 52‑week range: roughly $480 to just under $800
- Valuation: price/earnings multiple in the low 30s on trailing earnings, with EPS in the low‑20s. [4]
Even after today’s bounce, Meta trades meaningfully below its 52‑week high, with some of that gap reflecting investor concern over massive long‑term AI and data center investment that management has flagged for 2025–2027.
AI chip strategy: Meta–Google talks put pressure on Nvidia
One of the biggest narratives hanging over Meta (and the wider AI trade) this week is its potential pivot toward Google’s custom AI chips:
- Reports from The Information and follow‑up coverage relayed by the Taipei Times say Meta is in talks to spend “billions” of dollars on Alphabet’s tensor processing units (TPUs). [5]
- Meta is reportedly discussing deploying TPUs in its own data centers from 2027, and may rent Google Cloud TPUs as soon as next year, diversifying away from Nvidia’s dominant GPUs. [6]
The story has already hit the broader chip complex:
- Nvidia shares dropped after the reports, as investors reassessed how much of future AI infrastructure spending might migrate to Google’s in‑house silicon. [7]
- Morningstar analysis today suggests the move does not immediately break Nvidia’s leadership, but underscores how hyperscalers like Meta are actively cultivating second suppliers to manage cost, capacity, and geopolitical risk. [8]
For Meta shareholders, the Google chip talks matter because they tie directly into:
- AI cost structure – Custom or alternative accelerators could reduce Meta’s long‑term compute bill if TPUs deliver competitive performance per dollar.
- Execution risk – Spreading workloads across Nvidia, Google and Meta’s own internal chips makes the infrastructure stack more complex, raising integration risk.
- Capex path – The company has already signaled elevated capital expenditures for AI infrastructure into 2026, which some analysts cite as a key overhang on near‑term free cash flow and price targets. [9]
In short: today’s rally is happening against a backdrop of heavy AI spending and experimentation with new chip partners, not instead of it.
Europe turns up the heat: EU court fight and Italian WhatsApp probe
Meta’s regulatory overhang in Europe thickened today, even as the stock rallied.
1. EU Court of Justice showdown over “aberrant” data demands
In Luxembourg, Meta’s lawyers appeared before the EU Court of Justice, appealing what they describe as “aberrant, intrusive and disproportionate” information requests from the European Commission in two antitrust investigations launched four years ago. [10]
According to Reuters’ report from the hearing:
- The Commission used hundreds of search terms on Meta’s internal systems, generating close to one million documents, including highly sensitive personal material.
- Meta argues the demands overstepped what is necessary or proportionate and raise fundamental questions about privacy and limits on regulators’ access to corporate data.
- The case is linked to a prior €797.7 million fine against Meta over how Facebook Marketplace was tied to the core social network. A ruling from the EU’s top court is expected next year. [11]
The outcome won’t directly change Meta’s earnings today, but it could reshape the boundaries of EU antitrust investigations for large digital platforms—and influence future fines and compliance costs.
2. Italy’s AGCM deepens WhatsApp AI probe
Separately, Italy’s competition authority AGCM confirmed it has expanded an ongoing investigation into Meta’s conduct on WhatsApp, focusing on how the company handles AI tools on the messaging platform. [12]
Key points from today’s updates:
- Authorities are probing allegations that Meta’s policies for WhatsApp disadvantage competing AI chatbots and services, potentially by restricting or blocking them. [13]
- MLex reporting indicates regulators are considering interim measures (an injunction) that could force Meta to reopen or modify access for AI chatbots while the probe continues. [14]
For investors, the Italian case is a reminder that AI integration into flagship products (like WhatsApp) is happening under close regulatory watch, especially in Europe where competition and privacy authorities have been aggressive on big tech.
Cambridge Analytica legacy: $190 million investor settlement
Nearly a decade after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal first erupted, Meta is moving to close another chapter of related litigation—and that happened today.
Court filings cited by Insurance Journal show that Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta directors agreed to a $190 million settlement to resolve a shareholder derivative suit in Delaware Chancery Court. [15]
According to the filings:
- Investors alleged the board failed to fix repeated privacy violations and overpaid a 2019 $5 billion FTC settlement to protect Zuckerberg from personal liability.
- The $190 million will be paid by directors’ and officers’ insurance and flows back to Meta itself, not individual shareholders, pending court approval. [16]
- Meta has agreed to governance and oversight enhancements, including stricter privacy monitoring and clearer conflict‑of‑interest safeguards at board level. [17]
Financially, $190 million is tiny relative to Meta’s roughly $1.8 trillion valuation. Symbolically, however, it helps clear a long‑running investor dispute tied to Meta’s privacy history, at a time when regulators and consumers remain acutely focused on data use and AI‑driven profiling.
Reality Labs update: $4.4B quarterly loss, $70B cumulative burn
Another storyline resurfacing today is the cost of Meta’s metaverse ambitions.
A widely shared Tech Buzz article—updated this afternoon—highlights that Meta’s Reality Labs division lost $4.4 billion in Q3 2025, better than expectations for a roughly $5.1 billion loss, but still a huge drag on profitability. Cumulatively, Reality Labs has now burned more than $70 billion since late 2020. [18]
Key takeaways from that coverage and Meta’s own Q3 numbers:
- Reality Labs generated around $470 million in Q3 revenue, beating pessimistic forecasts but nowhere near covering its costs. [19]
- The division’s losses are being partially offset by surprising traction in Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses, which partners say are already lifting eyewear sales. [20]
- Meta quietly moved a senior metaverse executive into a more explicitly AI‑focused role this autumn, reinforcing the sense that AI is now the near‑term priority, with immersive experiences becoming more tightly integrated into that strategy. [21]
Investors today seem willing to look through the Reality Labs cash burn, as long as:
- The core Family of Apps (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads) continues to print strong ad revenue; and
- Management convincingly frames Reality Labs as strategic AI‑hardware infrastructure rather than a purely speculative virtual world bet.
Wall Street sentiment: Strong‑Buy upgrade, bullish targets, and heavy call buying
BNP Paribas upgrades Meta to “Strong Buy”
One of the clearest catalysts in today’s tape is a rating upgrade from BNP Paribas, which boosted Meta to “strong‑buy” in a note highlighted by MarketBeat. [22]
That report also sums up the broader analyst landscape:
- Roughly 50 analysts cover META.
- The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy”, with a heavy skew toward positive recommendations (dozens of Buys and only a handful of Holds).
- The average price target sits in the low‑$800s, implying around 30%+ upside from today’s price. [23]
24/7 Wall St: 37% one‑year upside, 90% upside by 2030
A new 24/7 Wall St piece dated today projects a firmly bullish long‑term path:
- Median 12‑month Wall Street target: about $838, roughly 32% above current levels.
- 24/7 Wall St’s own 2025 target: $875, or nearly 38% upside.
- By 2030, their model has META at around $1,200+ per share, roughly 90% higher than today, assuming Meta sustains double‑digit revenue growth and high margins while managing AI‑related capex. [24]
Their article also reiterates how Q3 2025 results beat expectations on revenue and EPS—Meta delivered $51.24 billion in revenue (up ~26% year over year) and $7.25 EPS, exceeding consensus estimates—even as guidance and rising AI investment spooked the market. [25]
Options and fund flows: traders and institutions reposition
On the flow side, several data points landed today:
- Options: MarketBeat flagged an unusually large volume of call option buying in META on Wednesday, indicating traders are positioning for further upside or at least heightened volatility into year‑end and the next earnings report. [26]
- Institutional ownership:
- A fresh filing shows WealthTrust Asset Management trimmed its META stake by about 12% in Q2, taking some profits while the stock still represents a significant portfolio position. [27]
- Another MarketBeat alert notes Thoroughbred Financial Services also reduced holdings, even as large asset managers and pensions collectively keep institutional ownership near 80% of shares outstanding. [28]
In addition, a widely shared Yahoo Finance feature on AI plays highlights Meta alongside Broadcom as one of two AI stocks that could ultimately approach $2 trillion valuations, citing a ~47% upside forecast from Wedbush’s Scott Devitt. [29]
Taken together, today’s research and flow data suggest:
- Strategists remain structurally bullish on Meta’s earnings power and AI positioning.
- Some smaller institutions are tactically de‑risking, likely after the huge multiyear run.
- Short‑term options traders are leaning bullish, betting that the worst of the AI‑capex panic is priced in.
How today’s news fits the bigger Meta story
Today’s rally doesn’t erase the risks around Meta, but it does clarify what the market is focusing on right now:
Bullish drivers
- AI scale and product integration
- Meta AI is being embedded into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Ray‑Ban smart glasses, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying it is on track to become one of the most widely used assistants globally. [30]
- Negotiations to use Google TPUs show Meta is aggressively tuning its AI infrastructure for cost, performance and resilience.
- Core business strength
- Q3 results showed strong ad growth and margin resilience in the Family of Apps segment, with revenue up more than 25% year over year and robust profitability. [31]
- Cleaning up legacy issues
- The $190 million Cambridge Analytica settlement is another step in resolving long‑running governance and privacy disputes that have shadowed Meta for years. [32]
Key risks
- Regulatory and legal pressure
- EU antitrust and privacy demands, plus the Italian WhatsApp AI probe, threaten operational constraints, future fines and tighter oversight of how Meta deploys AI and monetizes data. [33]
- Capex and cash‑flow strain
- AI data center builds and Reality Labs spending run into the tens of billions of dollars, and several analysts have cut price targets on concerns that Meta is sacrificing near‑term cash generation to outspend rivals in infrastructure. [34]
- Metaverse execution
- Reality Labs’ $4.4 billion quarterly loss and $70+ billion cumulative burn remain a major swing factor—either a long‑term strategic asset if AI‑driven AR/VR pays off, or a chronic drag if adoption lags. [35]
Bottom line for META on 26 November 2025
For today, the market verdict is clear: Meta is trading higher as investors emphasize:
- Bullish AI exposure and infrastructure moves, including the potential Google TPU deal;
- A supportive macro backdrop for growth stocks as inflation data cools;
- Fresh analyst endorsements and options activity pointing to renewed upside expectations; and
- Incremental progress in clearing legacy privacy litigation, even while new regulatory battles begin.
Whether that optimism sticks will depend on how Meta navigates:
- The EU court ruling expected next year,
- The Italian AGCM’s next steps on WhatsApp and AI, and
- Management’s ability to execute its AI and metaverse vision without overwhelming shareholders with capex.
For now, though, META is finishing November 26, 2025 as one of the notable tech winners of the day.
This article is for information and news purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security
References
1. www.livemint.com, 2. www.ainvest.com, 3. www.forex.com, 4. www.livemint.com, 5. www.taipeitimes.com, 6. www.taipeitimes.com, 7. nypost.com, 8. www.morningstar.com, 9. finance.yahoo.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. seekingalpha.com, 13. www.mlex.com, 14. www.mlex.com, 15. www.insurancejournal.com, 16. www.insurancejournal.com, 17. www.insurancejournal.com, 18. www.techbuzz.ai, 19. www.techbuzz.ai, 20. www.techbuzz.ai, 21. www.techbuzz.ai, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.marketbeat.com, 24. 247wallst.com, 25. 247wallst.com, 26. www.marketbeat.com, 27. www.marketbeat.com, 28. www.marketbeat.com, 29. finance.yahoo.com, 30. 247wallst.com, 31. investor.atmeta.com, 32. www.insurancejournal.com, 33. www.reuters.com, 34. finance.yahoo.com, 35. www.techbuzz.ai
